Building Civic Artisanship through Golden Rule Mindfulness

Abstract

Drawing on Alexis de Tocqueville’s analysis of American democracy, Vincent Ostrom argued that polycentric orders require civic artisanship for their adaptability and long-term wellbeing. Civic artisanship occurs when individuals take into account others’ interests and perspectives in devising and revising rules for managing social problems. Underlying civic artisanship is the Golden Rule: to do for others what you would have others do for you. Various religious and cultural liturgies urge Golden Rule mindfulness, ie., growing one’s empathy and imagination of the “other”.

A major challenge to sustaining a democratic order is the intergenerational transmission of the habits of heart and mind that underlie self-governance. This paper proposes a technique for invigorating civic artisanship for responding to environmental challenges in intercommunity contexts: start meetings with golden rule mindfulness boosts, ideally with awe-inducing artifacts. The ultimate goal is a change in individuals’ civic attitudes, habits, and engagements. The paper concludes with some tentative notes on a pilot study.