Social transformation as participative drama

Participative Democracy vs. Participative Drama: lessons on social transformation for international organizations from Gorbachev (Part #4)

The key event in the final breakthrough in Eastern Europe was the reactionary coup against Gorbachev and the response to it. The word most frequently used in relation to these events is 'dramatic'. After many other explanations from which relatively few lessons have been learnt, it is therefore worth exploring social transformation as a dramatic process in which dramatic moments are themselves catalysts of transformation.

The question to be asked is whether the sterile vocabulary of 'participative democracy' is appropriate to a period during which voter apathy is significantly increasing, most notably in the Western democracies, and especially among the young. Specifically is it 'participative democracy' which leads to sustainable social transformation? The words and structures used do indeed reflect understanding of the need for change. But can it not be argued that the most significant current product of 'participative democracy' is heightened levels of tokenism and 'lip service' in all its forms -- notably in international organizations? The plethora of unimplemented, and quickly forgotten, resolutions (over which large conferences agonize at great expense for long periods of time) is a prime illustration. The extent to which governmental bodies, and others, renege on solemn commitments, often by 'watering down' their interpretation, is another.

It is therefore worth exploring the dimensions of a new world order based on 'participative drama' as the key to sustainable social transformation. This is a step beyond what is now widely accepted as 'news management', although it was Richard Nixon who was the first to establish an Office of Communications devoted to managing executive imagery with a specific focus on the 'line-of-the-day' and the 'image-of-the-day'.

At the highest level, there is already continual scripting of media 'photo-opportunities', where 'scenarios' are prepared down to the minutest detail, and much effort is made in 'casting' people for 'roles'. There is now a seamless loop of theme-orchestration, sound-biting, leaking, polling and opinion-making, all feeding into policy formulation (1).

Because of its very nature, the degree of media management may never become clear. One striking example is the recent revelation that General Schwartzkopf's much publicized announcements during Operation Desert Storm concerning the destruction of Scud missiles and their launching sites were largely fabricated. US forces did not destroy a single mobile launcher during the Gulf War (2). But is that really relevant when he gripped peoples imagination by putting on such a good show?

To what extent has such thinking sustained the kinds of participative drama which triggered the changes in Eastern Europe? And what do such dramas mean for democratic processes?

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Social transformation as participative drama