In this paper, I address two research questions: what is and has been the role of popular education in struggles to create more of an ‘educated democracy’; and what contribution can new forms of biographical narrative enquiry make to what Biesta (2011) has termed the perpetual experiment of democracy? The backcloth is deep concern about the health of European democracy, partly illuminated by in-depth biographical narrative research, conducted in diverse communities, over many years. There are indications of increased alienation, and cynicism, among many people towards conventional politics, especially strong in marginalised communities. Widespread citizen distrust exists alongside patterns of minimal engagement in voluntary activities and democratic activism, especially in communities with high and persistent inter-generational unemployment and poverty. There is associated concern about the rise of fundamentalisms, whether of racist and or religious kinds, which includes extreme right wing parties across Europe but also fundamentalism in minority communities. Anthony Giddens, (1999) has explained that their rise can be seen as a kind of psychosocial defence, forged by fear of the other, and fuelled by feelings of powerlessness, alienation and anxiety. A struggle is taking place, he suggests, between fundamentalism – of various kinds – and a learned cosmopolitanism, in which spaces exist for new forms of collective dialogue, for learning from the other, and for participatory decision making.

Theoretically, the paper draws on the ideas of psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott (1971), especially his notion of transitional space; and of critical theorist Axel Honneth, and the notion of recognition as a basis for theorising learning and human well-being. Such recognition is grounded in the interpersonal sphere, in helping build self-confidence, but also in the qualities of the wider community and society, and the extent to which efforts are socially valued, leading to self-respect (Honneth, 2007). This is not just about having a good opinion of oneself but a sense of possessing a shared dignity of persons as morally responsible agents, capable of participating in public deliberations. The experience of being honoured by the community for one’s contribution leads to the third form of self-relation which Honneth calls self-esteem. People with high self-esteem will reciprocate a mutual acknowledgement of each other’s contribution to the community. From this grow loyalty and solidarity.  

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