Politics as art

"Should art and politics mix? Absolutely. Politics is an art and should be aspirational. Politics should never be mundane or accepting of the status quo, and neither should art." Eliza Carthy, English folk musician in New Statesman (30th June 08)

I read the quote above from Eliza Carthy from last week's New Statesman this morning and have been capitivated by it ever since. My job is focussed on encouraging ethnic minority communities in Scotland to participate in democracy and politics. Sadly, I often encounter reactions from people which highlight their disillusionment with politics and the fact that they don't see it as relevant to their lives - and we all know that this is an attitude common to all sectors of society just now.

Politics has become a discredited subject, something that only geeks or power crazed individuals are attracted to. The only time art is ever mentioned in connection to it is "The Dark Arts" of spin and media manipulation. Politics is about back stabbing, power and domination, and is a world far removed from the concerns of everyday life.

What a shame. For me, politics is the thread which flows through all of life, impacting on every aspect of our existence. I start every one of my presentations by focussing on this, by emphasising the role that politics has on our lives. Politics is the chance to change the world and change life - far too important for us not to be involved in.

Looking at it as an art form is an an exciting new way of thinking. Art is the "quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing or of more than ordinary significance." (dictionary.com) Politics is, can be, and indeed should be, all of these things. Artists seek to change the world, to share their vision and allow others to see through their eyes, feel through their emotions and think through their thoughts. All of these should underpin our politics, creating beauty rather than staid management.

Art can be controversial but it is inspiring and gets people talking - beauty attracts and motivates, whereas the boring may be reassuring but is rarely inspiring. Of course, I am not reducing this to beauty in physical terms - afterall, politics has been called acting for ugly people, so our representative bodies tend not to have many classically beautiful people in them!

However, beauty in terms of inspiration should be at the heart of our policies as a Labour Party. To create a radical centre, we need to be able to create a coalition - to do this, we need to motivate people with disparate goals and ideas. To win and to make a difference to the country, we need to do more than be conservative and boring. We need to take risks and to provoke discussion - we then need to participate in those discussions to outline our point of view and defend our principles. Maybe it is naive to believe that discussion still has a place in the modern 24hr media world, but I think we underestimate the public if we leave the control of the debate to the Sun and its ilk.

Politics as art, beautiful policy. Am I going mad? =)

Telling the Story

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7255488.stm

Intersting article on the BBC site about the role of storytelling in politics. It examines the impact of the "Man from Hope" story that Bill Clinton gave to the US, and which turned his polls around and led to him becoming President. Tony Blair was obviously a successful proponent of the art too. For Gordon Brown, however, it is not something that comes so easily.

Is it a skill that he needs to learn?

I think that the problem can be that policy and detail, whilst vital to the success of programmes the Government implements, is too dry and disconnected for most people in the UK. Most voters don't have the time to pore through intricate detail of policy - rather they are looking for the narrative of why the Government or party campaigning for their votes is planning to implement ideas and what their vision is for the country. People want vision and inspiration - I think they then trust the parties to get on with the indepth details of how things actually work.
Gordon Brown is successful at the intricacies, but the narrative is not yet working. And we'll be in trouble if it doesn't. I think we partly lost the election in Scotland last year due to a lack of inspiring narrative. The Lib/Lab coalition Executive had been functioning very successfully and had lots of concrete, sensible ideas for the next term. The SNP, however, were light on realistic policies (as demonstrated by how quickly they've dropped a lot of them) but provided an exciting narrative - freedom and a bright new paradise of an indepedent Scotland. Now, I'm not suggesting that we sink to their level of putting across narratives based on myths and fallacies, but we do need to look at our vision and our inspiration.

Look at the US. The presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party, Hillary Clinton, is looking on the verge of being knocked out of the race by a freshman Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama. He is light on specific policy (try reading his most recent book - lots of lovely rhetoric, not exactly much in the way of practical ideas) but he is exciting and inspiring. His narrative of 'Change' is inspiring voters, who trust that his energy and vision will be underlined by bringing in experts around him who can flesh out the ideas.

Gordon Brown is a man of great moral vision and commitment, and there is no doubt that he has a vision to make Britain a better, fairer society. He has touched on aspects of it during his time, but the travails of the recent months have forced him to become bogged down in the specifics of detail and policy. As a Party and a Government we need to overcome this and redefine our vision. We need to be strongly spreading it, demonstrating why we should remain in Government in Westminster, and return to Government in Holyrood.

A strong vision will show the paltry efforts of the other parties for the shams that they are. But if we do not share this vision, then we will suffer and Britain will take a different direction in the future from the society that we would like to see.

Age

I was reading an interesting post on the Newsnight site about the role of age in politics. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/2008/01/a_question_of_age_1.html) It points out that the consideration of John McCain as a viable candidate for the US Presidency is something that would not be replicated in the UK, with the current obsession with 'yoof.'

It got me thinking. It is daft that older members of society feel excluded from contributing to our politics. Ming Campbell shouldn't have been forced out of his position due to his age - our politicians and leaders should be elected on the basis of their competency and ideas rather than how long they have been around.

However, whilst older members of society should be encouraged to contribute, so should younger members. The article discusses the fact that the party leaders are all young, and comments underneath bemoan the fact that young people are getting into positions of authority when they have no life experience.

Firstly, I'm 26 and I can tell you that 40+ is not young! Heck, to someone in their teens I'm an old fogey! Secondly, to have a representative democracy, we require elected members of all strands of our community - young, old, white, black, male and female. In my work, I talk to young people who are not involved in politics, and am frequently told that they are not interested because it is something for old people. Looking at the make-up of our elected representatives, there are very few younger people able to represent that age group and able to bring their concerns to the attention of the elected bodies.

All our citizens should be free and encouraged to participate. We should not presume that older age guarantees experience, whilst being young precludes it. Everyone has skills and experiences to contribute, and should be encouraged in this. Likewise, it shouldn't be presumed that older people lack an energy and commitment to do the job they are elected for.

To create a vibrant democracy, we require the participation of all its members. Young, old and middle-aged, we all have something to offer.

Amazing Grace

I finally got round to watching Amazing Grace at the weekend, and I must admit I was incredibly moved by it.

Now, I'll hold my hands up and confess to being an idealist when it comes to politics. But what I saw in that film is what, to me, politics is all about. The vision to change the world, the dedication to overcome challenges and the commitment to doing what is right, even if it carries personal cost.

I get depressed when I hear the negativity that is felt towards politicians. At an event I was running last week, the audience (composed of very educated and motivated people) waxed lyrical about how all politicians are in it for themselves, concerned only with protecting their pensions rather than in making a difference to the world. When I disputed this assessment, I was greeted with looks of incredulity - how on earth could I be so naive as to think that there were any politicians in it for the greater good.

But I do believe that this is the motivating factor for involvement in politics, and I certainly know it is for me. For me, politics is a vocation. Now, I know that the religious terminology will grate for some readers, but I very much believe that there is a calling to politics. It is not just a job or a career with good pay and benefits, but rather is a chance to change the world to be a better place. Politicians are elected with different views of how they would like the world to be, and Parliament is where they are able to argue their views and put forward a direction for the country.

This type of vocational politics is one that can inspire the public and the next generation of activists. As a job, politics is not the ideal way to make money. It is intensive and demanding, and although the pay for MPs is very high, there are business jobs which are far better paying - just ask all those MPs who have moved on to be board members of big companies!
Politics is crucial to our lives - it impacts on everything that we do. I say this to groups when I am doing my outreach events, and at first many of them look at me as if I have two heads! However, when we discuss the impact that it has and the changes it can make, they change their views and get fired up at the possibilities that it presents.

William Wilberforce was a man who changed the world, even though the odds were stacked outrageously against him. He strived through years of failure, ridicule and personal attacks, and sacrificed his own personal ambition to the greater good of those who had no voice for themselves. This, to me, should be the mantra of all our elected representatives and indeed for our Party as a whole. Politics, and politicians, do matter - we need to make sure that the public is aware of this through the actions and motivations of those elected to represent them.