About ‘Practicing Politics’

Some insight into the aims of this Publication.

Aims:

Practicing Politics is a new publication that looks at the ways we are currently ‘doing’ our politics — e.g., how we have political conversations, the ways we relate to other ideas, the effectiveness of mass protests.

From these observations, the articles here then try to parse out principles that we can apply in the future by looking at what works and what doesn’t.

On the whole, we are less fixated on the content behind political ideas and more so on the ways those ideas are being experienced and engaged with.

Our articles can come in many forms and styles; be it through a short op-ed piece on a sweeping observation, or a long analysis of a very specific topic.

The aim is to help people work on how they go about their politics, so that we can tackle the complex issues our society faces without coming to deadlocks and perpetual conflict.

Behind The Name:

Practicing Politics as a title can be interpreted in two ways, both of which are correct. But first, let’s look at what it means to ‘practice’.

(noun) practice: the customary, habitual, or expected procedure or way of doing something.

In this sense, Practicing Politics is looking at the ways we already ‘do’ our politics in society. By looking at what political practices do and do not work, we can extract principles upon which to base future learning outcomes.

(verb) practice: perform (an activity) or exercise (a skill) repeatedly or regularly in order to improve or maintain one’s proficiency.

In this sense, Practicing Politics can be seen as a central resource for ways that you can learn about political action and how to do it differently. We are offering new techniques and perspectives that can empower people and better prepare them to navigate our political culture.

Motivation:

Practicing Politics is motivated by a fairly simple idea; right now, political engagement is massively exhausting and seems incredibly unproductive. Mainstream party politics in particular can feel like a never-ending battle between opposing groups, where tribalist, aggressive discourse is the norm, and everyone is simply doing whatever they can to stay in power. Grassroots activism, on the flip side, can feel like you are trying to sprint through mud and warn people of some impending — or currently happening — disaster, yet no one wants to listen.

I ask you then, wouldn’t you like it if things were different?

Well, they can be, at least for you.

Practicing Politics is not trying to push for some grand goal that will address all our woes, nor is it advocating for a specific ideology that will magically guide us away from the darkness of tyranny and towards a brighter tomorrow. It is focused on the individual, showing different ways each of us could change the way we ‘do’ our politics.

If widely adopted, would these attitudinal and behavioural changes have a big impact on society? Most likely. But that’s not the aim, for now…

At this moment, read the articles, consider the ideas, and perhaps then shift your approach to politics accordingly.

These ideas and lessons are not one-size-fits-all. They must be adapted to each context. But what they can do is start a conversation. And, hopefully, that conversation can give us the opportunity to enter a new political space. One where we aren’t so constantly exhausted and our work does not feel quite so redundant.