Can politics be fun?!

WWJ special edition on ELECTIONS, September 2024

2024 has been an important year, over 60 countries have had or are still having elections, more than 3,6 thousand million people (that means 45% of the world population) will have a right to vote. Elections mean different things in different countries, but one perspective is that the number of liberal democracies has decreased since its peak in 2009.

In Germany, like some of our neighbouring countries, we just faced strong wins of a far-right party in last week’s regional elections. We anxiously await what US elections will bring regarding world policy. This is one perspective on this topic, and our WWJ (Worldwork Journalism) format allows us to have a multi-faceted view of it. 

How does it work?

We meet several times a year online for two hours as people spread worldwide. This time we came together from Lithuania, Kenya, Thailand, Ukraine, UK and Germany. After a Worldwork (facilitated dialogue) session, each participant has time to write, deepen and reflect on a certain moment, and brings in a piece of their personal experience of our session and discussion. This co-creative process supports us as participants to build our awareness around the topic, the writing and editing afterwards are meant to transport some of our multifaceted experiences to a broader audience and ideally support conversations to flow further within the comments section, our communities and beyond.

The topic with the most energy under the overarching heading of ELECTION was decided by the people in the world work online session.

What was our chosen topic?: 

How to engage young people in democracy and how pop culture can educate young people to not become passive citizens?

Some voices on the young side were (and we consider them as roles in the broader political field): 

First, the disengaged one 

centred on hopelessness and the energy in the room that young people feel forgotten by and disappointed in if not neglected by the system. So they do not engage. 

Second, the young far-right 

young men choosing to support right-wing extremist politicians because in their eyes they bring ‘strong men’ back and present a role model of how not to be ‘weak.’ 

Third, the young activist

a young volunteer, she has always been one as have her friends. She is engaged active and political. She feels incredibly angry at older generations, especially her parent’s generation for their passivity and letting everything come to this. She is also furious at adults for not taking her and her friends seriously in their opinions and engagement. 

described by Steph F./ Germany

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Some more voices that joined and reflected:

I was surprised by the diversity of young people’s perspectives. The disengaged one made me angry. And the one who liked to follow the strong ‘man’ and felt affirmed by their power, protecting their privileges, made me freeze. Helplessness.

… then I heard the young activist speak and understood …

SORRY, I want to shout, yeah, really, I messed it up … I can’t do that alone, I need you …. can you give me a chance?

Stephie B./Germany

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Hearing a voice that there is a power that I am not using, the power of my right to voice, my vote, to decide and contribute to the future, to use my privilege actually since I have been living in democratic countries, so it felt like a call to action. I felt a personal invitation to use my superpower wisely and to be more involved in the current processes.

It’s a gift to be able to engage and be active and also to find myself between different generations and cultures, it’s so beautiful and enriching. Democracy cannot be done alone, we are all in it together. It’s a dialogue and the way we talk about it. It’s my choice now whether to be worried and wait, or to be more part of the transformation

Marina, Ukraine/Germany

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I left of pain in my head. Later I realised that I wanted to engage with the topic, but it did not happen. Maybe this pressure was the reason for my head. After one hour pain and pressure disappeared. Now I can think about the experience. 

Talking between generations is not enough for change. That is my voice. And I do not know what is needed. Something new has to emerge. I feel strong in not knowing. 

Severija/Lithuania

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Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels

I loved hearing a young voice saying: “I want power. I want them gone”. “I want them gone” resonated with me strongly. I feel powerful when I say this. I have a clear objective and I feel supported. I don’t care about them!

Now I am thinking, who are the ones I wish are gone? What’s in me that wants to see them leaving? What in me others wish to banish? What is in me that I want to be gone? What parts of myself am I marginalising and what parts of myself seek power this way? Are there any other ways to feel empowered? Maybe through inclusion? Is there any unprocessed pain hiding underneath that prevents me from seeing the other? 

Lukrecjus/Lithuania

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Coming back to the present 79-year-old me, I realize that young people have not only experienced blaming and shaming - conscious and unconscious - they are also the heirs to the traumas of the generations before them. So I am not so astonished anymore that young people have voted for the far-right party. And it is not a phenomenon that is only showing up in the eastern part of Germany. In the western part, some schools had projects with mock elections and the percentage of students voting far right was as high as in the eastern part. 

I feel we need to listen much more to the young people, to learn from them what is happening for and to them, and not talk down to them. I hope very much that they are willing to answer my questions.

Gitta/Germany

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I found it initially quite hard to engage with the voices of the young people and felt an anger inside me of why these voices were not out there trying to do something more to change things and were so influenced by negative role models, right-wing and misogynist, racist pop culture. Then I felt a shift in me to a deeper understanding and empathy of the feelings of hopelessness. I  then felt anger …. the young people didn’t understand my generation… how we fought for women's rights, to have a voice and to set up new systems that challenged the status quo…I realised that neither of us understood each other …we judged each other and couldn’t understand each other’s struggles…realising this I felt such a relief …crossing that divide and becoming partners setting up alliances and working together feels wonderful!

Philipa/UK

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It's fascinating how people like Trump might get so much support, people in politics are showing more and more aggression as gifts of diminishing and destroying power. There was a palpable sense of energy and power dynamics between older and younger generations. The young generation received huge support to speak up. This is our future and this is where there was the most heated discussion. We need each other to make powerful changes, to take each other seriously, to learn from each other. The value of the democratic system is lost if one just doesn't care and it is happening more and more often with young people being disengaged……”

Tanya, Ukraine

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I would like to deepen the role of the young citizens who seem never to be disturbed with what's going on but deep inside, they are hurt. They are hurt because their parents are taken for a ride by the politicians. They are given handouts sometimes and they accept it, not knowing that they are selling their birth rites. They cry as we see because what the politicians promised is not what they saw nor received once in power. It's hurting, but our hands are tied. A day will come when we request our older generation to sit back at home we go for elections and even protect our votes from selfish leaders who steal votes to be in power. A day is coming. Do not think that we're happy, we are not happy.  A much stronger and mightier evolution is coming. We young generation will liberate our country and our parents. 

A lot has shifted in me. After taking the role of the younger generation,  I feel like there is much to be done to ensure things are done right. Youth make up almost 70% of Kenya's population. I feel their energies and hear their voices. I want to join them. I want to be like them. 

Lots of love and zeal,

Mildred, Kenya 🇰🇪

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Photo by Drew Anderson on Pexels

Coming out of the process I am even more convinced that cross-generational alliances and dialogue is our only way forward. It is a very tired old trope but: children, teenagers, and young adults very literally are our future. What keeps us as societies from allowing them to co-create the future we all want to live in? To co-create a world in which we actually get to have a future, politically and ecologically? 

Steph F./Germany

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I also want to co-create an alliance with all generations to join up and work together. Bringing our world work journalism into TikTok or Discord or Twitch Platform where the younger folks hang out often. We could learn a lot from engaging with this kind of group support and set a goal to do at least 10,000 group processes to create change in each country on every platform with more psychological activist process workers as much and as soon as possible

Perry, Thailand

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And you, dear reader, which voice speaks to you? Any suggestion how we can meet - young and old? and any glimpse of an idea, how politics can be fun?

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Apart from commenting below, we invite you to read and join the conversation here on Substack on a regular base by subscribing. We are grateful for every comment as it enriches our conversations and supports this tender plant to grow.

About 🌏 Worldwork

Worldwork is an application of Processwork also known as process-oriented psychology. As a psychological and conflict-resolution approach developed by Arnold Mindell in the 1970s, it's based on the principles of Jungian psychology, Taoism, and systems theory, and it is used in various settings, including therapy, organizational development, community building, and conflict resolution. At its core, Worldwork aims to explore and understand both individual and collective processes in order to address conflicts, promote personal growth, and create more harmonious relationships within groups and communities. It focuses on bringing awareness to marginalized or ignored perspectives, as well as the deeper layers of consciousness within individuals and groups.

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Editors of this space

Cynthia Wanjihia is a passionate Process Work student as well as a Cyber Security student. She is open minded in world work as well as inter-generational relationships hoping to relate to all and create a safe space to feel heard and share their story.

Stephanie Bachmair (B.ONFIRE/DD Alliance) is a communication enthusiast, facilitator, leadership coach, and process work diplomat. She supports individuals, teams, and organizations to explore and craft their stories, tell them with charisma, relate to their audience, and increase their transformative power through dialogue. 

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If you want more

• All of Us in All of This Together, 7days Process Work & Worldwork Clinic with Deep Democracy Institute in Granada, Spain 7-13th of Oct. More info here

• Deep Democracy Lab in Hamburg: Eldership & Power Dynamics. 15th to 17th of November in Hamburg. More info here.

• If you are interested in knowing more & experiencing process work, we will offer a free online session on Deep Democracy in Organisations, the 4th of December 6,30 pm to 8,00pm CET, then you can register here

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