This briefing paper takes a look at citizen involvement since the 1960s.
Has citizen involvement changed since Since Sherry Arnstein first put forward of her theory of participation in the 1960s (see our Listen up! CSR expert view for more information). How has the geopolitical structure of the world been changed by mass public protest?
1960s
The age of flower power - on the one hand people tuned in, turned out and dropped out of civil society but the world also saw the mass civil involvement in a number of protests. Vietnam, the first 'media war', drew huge rallies in the States. Meanwhile in France, students and union workers came together in a series of strikes and protests culminating in those that took place May 1968 - some say the birthplace of today's sustainable development.
1970s
The UK worked a three-day week through the winter of discontent, with the union and coal miners strike. The geopolitical nature of Europe was forever changed with the breakdown of the Iron Curtain and the liberation of the Eastern bloc.
1980s
Singing women at Greenham Common protesting against nuclear armament reflected the fears of a whole generation of the 'A-bomb'. The UK public rose up against Maggie Thatcher's poll tax and by the 1990s had quashed it.
1990s
'The age of apathy' where students were chastised for being interested only in furthering their careers. Business started to wake up to the need to take account of the views of citizens with the BabyMilk Action campaign against Nestle and Shell's Exxon-Valdez and Ken Saro-Wiwa catastrophes. The UK Government recognised that community empowerment is necessary for area-based regeneration and capacity building becomes the theme of the decade.
2000s
Organisations are trying to stimulate citizens to respond to issues that concern them and everywhere consulting with 'hard to reach' groups is the mantra. September 11 sparked the two milestone events of the decade so far: Listening to the City - an event designed to gain the views of the citizens of New York on how Ground Zero should be rebuilt was unprecedented in terms of scale and technology; and February 2003 saw mass protest against proposed war in Iraq around the globe, in the UK it was the largest march in living memory.
