Creativity in Participatory Deliberative Experiments: Breaking the Gridlock Through Intersectional Activism?

What is the role of creativity in participatory deliberative democracy? This is a question worth examining because of the rise of creative approaches in the increasing number of experiments aimed at engaging citizens beyond the electoral ballot for the benefit of our democracies. Creativity is believed to unlock additional potential from these experiments and (re)approximate disempowered groups to mainstream decision-making. This paper aims to unpack this belief by asking whether and how creativity can help accomplish what Erik Olin Wright earlier described as the opportunity to transcend capitalism through the democratisation of power relations. In the author’s words, this is the primary goal of participatory deliberative experiments, which maintain an emancipatory ethos in what he terms “real utopias”. Wright argues that real utopias are the principal route to the subordination of capitalism (and statism) because they can ensure equal access to the political means for collective decision-making. Therefore, as people become empowered over their common fate, they can see creativity as a potential driver for disrupting daily routines and subverting the (re)production of dominant norms and rules. But can creativity play such a critical role in transforming power relations? From a theoretical standpoint, if creativity is to counter the commodification of life, the rise of the so-called “creative class” seems to pose significant challenges to making utopias real. The global movement of artists, designers, and technology workers, celebrated in its early stages by Richard Florida, has placed creativity at the heart of global economic development over the past few decades. Contentious outcomes for the emancipation of citizens have been criticised by scholars who view creativity as a relatively new bulwark for the reproduction of capitalist relations that sustain the marginalisation of disempowered groups. This is an issue that necessarily brings to the fore questions about what conception of creativity is being praised, and what implications this conception may have for the transformation of power relations through participatory deliberative experiments. Acknowledging the theoretical complexity that emerges from examining creativity through the lenses of real utopias and the creative class, this paper seeks to advance the debate on its epistemological oscillations between emancipation and conformism. On the one hand, creative approaches in participatory deliberative experiments may unlock citizen control over equity and social injustices; on the other, creativity has become synonymous with business as usual, which raises concerns on whether these experiments should rely on them. By unpacking this debate, the paper flags the scientific, social, and political significance of intersectional activism. Different but interconnected injustices affect the daily lives of people because of their gender, age, race, and education at multiple levels. The mobilisation of citizens who experience disempowerment can break the gridlock of what seems a dualistic understanding of creativity in participatory deliberative experiments. What meanings do we attach to the emancipation of disempowered groups when their struggles confront multiple barriers? Shall we appreciate the role of creators as potential game changers on an intersectional ground?