CSP 51 Reclaiming the Public Sphere: Theory and Practice for Democracy and Mindfulness

The course will consider the theories and practices that build robust, diverse, vibrant, and empowered public spheres. The notion of “reclaiming” this sphere emerges at a moment when liberal politics seems under threat, both in the United States and abroad. Leaders and citizens are challenging and undermining the egalitarian and participatory publics that political and social theorists have long identified as central for democratic governments. At the same time, activists looking to resist these forces and to build more inclusive publics have increasingly turned to mindfulness techniques to motivate, sustain, and elevate their work.

This course will interrogate the practices of democracy and mindfulness, asking how these practices shape governance and inform political and social change. The course will be guided by a set of core questions: What is the public sphere and what does it mean to claim or reclaim it? Who claims or reclaims the public sphere, and does this matter? What are the practices of democracy, on the one hand, and mindfulness, on the other, and how do these practices shape this (re)claiming? We will then explore these questions through case studies of policy areas or issue areas, including public health and healthy equity, the built environment and safe cities, local government (town halls, civic engagement, and participatory politics), and resiliency and disaster planning, and among others.