Courageous Citizens: How Culture Contributes to Social Change. This item is unavailable.Courageous Citizens: How Culture Contributes to Social Change

This book highlights the change-making capacity of culture by exploring the intellectual and practical interventions of "courageous citizens." These citizens can be thinkers, artists, activists and collectives--those whose thoughts, ideas and actions play a pivotal role in the struggle for just societies. It is these change-makers who, through their everyday actions, work toward a collective future and complex societal reconfigurations.

Looking back at the past decade, this book identifies three themes which have been, and continue to be, relevant to social change: identity and diversity; culture, communities and democracies; and solidarity and fragmentation. It shows how courageous citizens have activated the cycles of thinking and rethinking, doing and changing, which have altered the way we view the world. Combining theoretical perspectives with case studies, this book aims to demonstrate the potential of culture to generate positive social change.

Over the past decades, the cultural and political map of Europe and the world has changed rapidly. Developments such as the changing status of the European Union, migration, and th wider repercussions of globalization have posed numerous social and political challenges. Instead of recognizing and valuing these challenges, there is a growing tendency to retreat into fixed ideas of culture and cultural divides. This book celebrates the capacity of individuals and small groups to contribute to social change through culture and art. It is a source of inspiration for renegotiating our understanding of the world and affirming culture as a critical space to practive courage and perseverance amid complex societal reconfigurations.
Courageous Citizens focuses on those whose daring, sharing, and inventing contribute to our collective future, and for whom cultura and democracy are the starting points for vision and action. The cycle of (re-)thinking, doing, and changing that is inherent in remodelling the way we view the world and concurrently the potential of culture to contribute to positive social change is addressed through three key themes:
I - Diversity and Equality;
II - Communities and Democracy;
III - Fragmentation and Solidarity.
Courageous Citizens is published on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the ECF Princess Margriet Award for Culture (PMA), an annual award acknowledging and amplifying the work of individuals and collectives whose creative work can truly make a difference in Europe’s societies.

Courageous Citizens gaat over ‘moedige burgers’: denkers, kunstenaars, activisten en collectieven die via hun gedachten, ideeën en acties een centrale rol spelen in de strijd voor een rechtvaardige samenleving. Het zijn burgers (met of zonder officieel burgerschap) die moed en doorzettingsvermogen tonen door zich, te midden van complexe maatschappelijke ontwikkelingen en processen, dagelijks in te zetten voor het bouwen van een inclusieve, gezamenlijke toekomst.
Aan de hand van theoretische perspectieven en casestudy's laten de auteurs van dit boek zien hoe cultuur de wereld in positieve zin kan veranderen. Zij doen dit aan de hand van drie thema’s: 1) Gelijkheid & Diversiteit, 2) Communities & Democratie, 3) Fragmentatie & Solidariteit. Courageous Citizens laat zien hoe moedige individuen en groepen binnen deze domeinen veranderingen teweeg brengen. Dankzij hun sociale, creatieve en intellectuele energie ontstaat er een ruimte om samen te leren, te leven, en om de democratie te beoefenen en te (her)definiëren.

Courageous Citzens is uitgegeven ter gelegenheid van de tiende verjaardag van de ECF Princess Margriet Award for Culture (PMA), een jaarlijkse prijs die wordt uitgereikt aan kunstenaars, denkers en collectieven die cultuur inzetten om positieve veranderingen in Europa teweeg te brengen.