Democracy in the 21st century

Thoughts on how to face global and European socio-political issues in the 21st century era

“Without questioning nothing works”, is a statement I retrieved from a video on the European Forum Alpbach (EFA) website – a platform that fosters ideas for an empowered and democratic Europe (EFA 2022). I find it a striking argument and would like to add another dimension to it: Global and European socio-political issues cannot be solved when they are not questioned within an interdisciplinary approach.

We are living in a VUCA world – which means our globalised world is getting more and more vulnerable, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. Challenges that we are facing on a European but also on a global level range from alarming changes in our climate to a global pandemic, a steady increase in right-wing populism, which is followed by hate and racism, to wars – also in our neighbouring countries. Our democracy is not a political system we can take for granted but rather a fragile construct.

By questioning the video's quote I am trying to state that it is an insufficient way if only political stakeholders work on solving our present challenges. But it is rather actors from various fields such as the civil society, economy, media, culture, and science, who also share a responsibility. A responsibility to rethink and develop strategies on how we can face future conflicts also by contributing to strengthen our democratic society.

Editor — Aurélie Karadjov