Civic Artisanship and Golden Rule Mindfulness for Local Civic Problem-solving
Start Date
August 2024
End Date
August 2024
Location
ALT 208
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 project 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.
We seek both a contribution to the scholarly literature on self-governance and civics, and an easy-to-read guide for facilitators for civic problem-solving sessions. Most of the work this summer has been preparatory in terms of background work, both in building the theoretical argument, and in evaluating possible ways to format the guide. The project builds on Laudato Si and Al-Mizan, a Muslim teaching on environmental stewardship. Together, these documents provide foundational guidance for environmental citizenship. While the Golden Rule mindfulness techniques are not exclusive to environmental issues, they seem a natural fit.
Civic Artisanship and Golden Rule Mindfulness for Local Civic Problem-solving
ALT 208
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 project 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.
We seek both a contribution to the scholarly literature on self-governance and civics, and an easy-to-read guide for facilitators for civic problem-solving sessions. Most of the work this summer has been preparatory in terms of background work, both in building the theoretical argument, and in evaluating possible ways to format the guide. The project builds on Laudato Si and Al-Mizan, a Muslim teaching on environmental stewardship. Together, these documents provide foundational guidance for environmental citizenship. While the Golden Rule mindfulness techniques are not exclusive to environmental issues, they seem a natural fit.
