Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys

 

One of my favorite southern sayings that I grew up hearing is “Not my circus, not my monkeys”. In translation, this a phrase that means “It’s not my place, so I’m not getting involved”. Tuesday’s debate focused on New Spaces of Social Justice, specifically Democracy as Participation on Programming of the City. Arielle spoke about the People’s Park of Berkeley and posed the question, “How should we invite and foster participation to be helpful and productive without overcomplicating projects? How regulated (if at all) should this be?” Often, citizens don’t feel obligated to attend participation in city planning because they feel that it is not their place because they are not a trained architect or urban planner. Participation should be encouraged, no matter the background of the citizen, in the same way that a diverse jury is chosen in court cases, because these individuals bring unique perspectives from different backgrounds. Results can be achieved without a participatory process from all citizens, however by suppressing these power dynamics and encouraging participation by underrepresented groups, more equitable designs can be created.