?Creativity, equality and distinction: a political outlook for citizens in a plural, developmental reality'

AuthorIwan Thomas
Pages121-141
S.S.L.R. Creativity, equality and distinction
121
Vol.2
‘Creativity, equality and distinction: a political
outlook for citizens in a plural, developmental
reality’
Iwan Thomas
The character of the citizen under the law is often overlooked by constitutional
theory. This article intends to show the importance of the citizen and his or
her capacity for creativity in a diverse society. It is well documented that due
to developments in technology and communication the modern world is
becoming increasingly culturally pluralistic. In the light of this, this essay will
seek to deconstruct classical constitutional theory and show that it is
essentially violent in its attempt to bring stability into such a diverse world.
Through a process of poïesis balanced with praxis a type of creativity can be
employed by citizens of the modern world that was once practiced by the
ancients in an environment where they found themselves to be most free. This
process of creation ought to be framed by a perception of reality seen as
simultaneously developmental and cyclical, this is a movement away from the
hegemony of Western ontic, metaphysical and political thought. As a result of
this creative activity a political assertiveness that is based on the human
condition of plurality, encompassing the duality of equality and distinction,
can arise.
Introduction
his article is a discussion of creativity and constitutionalism when
applied in the context of social diversity. It is put forward that
constitutionalism is irreducibly unjust and a particular type of creative
process is necessary for citizens to overcome this. The activities
associated with legal citizenship is an area that is often overlooked in
legal theory as the vast majority of jurisprudential themes tend to focus at an
institutional level to remedy what are perceived as institutional problems.
However, it is contended in this paper that violence inflicted by the law upon
citizens can be met and remedied at the ground level where the law is applied
and understood. Creativity is offered as the human activity through which a
response can be made visible.
The first part of this essay is a crystalisation of the value of creativity as a
human process and its value to the law. Within this part, Chapter 1 will
consider the relationship between freedom and creativity. The genealogy of
this relationship will be traced back to ancient Greece where creativity and
political engagement were essential parts of the lives of freemen in the polis. It
can be seen that a certain genus of creativity has been lost with the active
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[2012] Southampton Student law review
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Vol. 2
political life and that this type of creativity might be of assistance should
citizens seek to overcome constitutional injustice in a pluralistic society. The
second chapter of the essay criticizes the Western creative process that has
emerged since the type of creativity employed in the polis. It is argued that
this process is based on a misleadingly stable perception of reality that is not
of use when applied to the rapid social developments that occur in a diverse
global society. Two alternative theories from modern thinkers are offered and
synthesised in order to establish a potential frame for the creative process.
Part II is a survey on the authority and legitimacy of contemporary
constitutionalism, which is illuminated as inherently violent, particularly
when applied to a diverse, kinetic reality. Language as a human creation is of
central importance to bringing about constitutionalism that is more just; it is
the medium in which creativity is balanced. The final chapter is an application
of the theories of reality and creativity in the context of constitutionalism,
underscoring the importance of creativity existing in the foreground of
contemporary constitutional theory.
Reality and the value of creativity
Freedom and creativity
The aim of this chapter is to show that notions of freedom and creativity are
inextricably linked. Where humanity finds itself to be free determines both
how and where we engage in the creative process. Two of types of creative
activity, praxis and poïesis will be defined for the purpose of analysing the
ways in which creativity can be constitutionally employed. The objective of
this particular part of the essay is to show that a distinct way of experiencing
the very essence of poïesis- as a method of unveiling truth- has become under
untilised by modern citizens.
The genealogy of individual political creativity
Creativity in ancient Greece
In ancient Greece there existed a clear difference between the undertakings of
poïesis and praxis. The latter can be roughly translated as ‘action’; however,
praxis more accurately defined is the direct outcome resulting from an action.
1
Following Aristotle, as a connection between senses and the malleable parts of
the world its primordial origins rest in biological necessity or in man as part of
nature.2 This is due to the nearness of praxis to action, praxis arises as the
product of a single moment of action; it is the immediate coincidence between
will and action. Thus, from this technical definition, action can be seen as the
1 Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition (first published 1958, University of Chicago Press 1998)
2 Giorgio Agamben, The Man Without Content (1999 Stanford University Press), § 8.

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