Development of Citizenship and Local Productivity

Miguel ngel Briceo

Director of the Institute of Philosophy and Coordinator of Tech/SUDIL
Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas
mibricen@reacciun.ve


Abstract

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the need to conceive citizenship as a process.
According to the concept of citizen, an individual is a person as s/he is part of the people, as
s/he is an organic member of any society. In practice, citizenship is attained and developed
in a more satisfactory way by each person, and by the people as a whole, as long as the
relation between the individual and the people, freedom and democracy, State and law is
developed. In other words, we can only conceive the citizen within the real framework of
society and State through the development of the society led by the State and attained
thanks to the work of the society and through the development of national and global-
oriented local networks of production and property. This process of authentic local
integrated development can only be achieved if we raise decentralization of the national
public powers and of the concept of citizenship itself.


Philosophical issues

Dichotomies between the individual and the people, freedom and democracy, State and law
have always been key issues in the political debate and in analysis within the framework of
political science. There is a trend in the philosophical literature of the last decade towards
giving preference to one of the two sides of the mentioned dichotomies, for example,
towards placing an emphasis on State and minimizing law, or highlighting the individual to
the detriment of the people, or vice versa. Van Dun (1995)
1
, in his paper on the Neutral
State, says that the liberal view of society, as an order of law, is fundamentally opposed to
the idea of the State and to the idea that legislation is the source of law. In other words, if
society already posses a law as a result of its "freedom state", it would hardly need other
"states" above that "liberalist" society, only managed by hidden market forces. This is why
it rejects a legislature that creates additional laws that do not result from that own "state of
liberal nature".
By analyzing the statist philosophies of Hobbes, Aristotle, Plato, Rousseau and Marx, Van
Dun realizes that neutrality is not and cannot be an objective of the State. Law and State
stand for completely different conceptions of human societies and only law is characterized
by neutrality and can, therefore, respect personal morality, which is not the case of the
State, which in my opinion is known for taking decisions based on a range of partialities.

1
Van Dun, Frank (1995). Philosophical Statism and the Illusions of Citizenship: Reflections on the Neutral State.
Philosophica, 56(2), 91-119.

1
Constant
2
, in his essay on the purity of liberalism, strongly defends the idea of Rousseau
that the People's Sovereignty is a universal political principle that goes beyond any attempt
of usurpation or tyranny, by saying that any authority that governs a nation must arise from
the general will. However, Constant goes further and maintains that although Rousseau was
based on the idea that the general will must be the legislative, he concluded wrong by
basing his reasoning on abstract ideas, and that there is no place, therefore, for limitations
of the Sovereign Power
3
. In this sense, Rousseau, as Hobbes, Mably, Robespierre and
Napoleon, would have become an "instigator of despotism". According to Constant,
Rousseau like the author of the "Leviathan" perverted sovereignty and did not get the
real face of liberty. Constant defends a liberalism that is based on a philosophical
conception of humanity, in which the sovereign must respect the individual. By doing this,
Constant gave priority to the particular sovereignty as opposed to the popular one, leaving
the dilemma unsolved.
In the analysis of the concept of sovereignty made by Quentin Skinner (1993)
4
, the author
maintains that the classical theory about the government and citizenship was conceived in
terms of virtue and civic equality. Against this, Hobbes developed his individualistic and
liberal model of the social contract, an idea that still prevails in contemporary theories of
justice as rectitude.
The author also explains that the contractual thinking has been said to have opposed the
point of view that considers the people's welfare more important than the rights and
liberties of the citizens. Against this framework, Skinner wonders if this thinking is
justified with the statement that the best way to reinforce freedom is insisting on the fact
that the interference in social duties must be minimized and that this should be the key
objective of the law.
Here, as it was the case in the previous position, there is an evident confusion with the
conception of People as a set of individuals related and made relative by a nation, and of
People as individuals who are naturally free, a priori, and who could decide to form or not
a certain People, a posteriori, because, at the beginning, the concept of nation embedded a
strong ethic component that make us acknowledge and accept, even nowadays, the
existence of indigenous nations within a Modern State. And now we see that it is the
dismembered ethnic groups united in the largest cities of the planet that are trying to get
together to constitute new nations built upon more universalistic principles.
Another confusion of contemporary life, characterized by this huge mobility of people
throughout the world, is the result of the so-called process of multiculturalism. According
to J urgen Habermas
5
(1996), the global success that nation-states experienced in the period
that goes from the last decade of the 15
th
century up until the French Revolution is currently
brought into play by the new requirements of multicultural differentiation and

2
Goyard- Fabre, S (1976). L'idee de Souverainete du Peuple et le "Liberalisme Pur" By Benjamin Constant. Rev Metaph
Morale, 81, 289-327.

3
See also: Prez Luno, A-E (1976). Aproximacin Analtico-Lingstica al Trmino 'Soberana Popular'. An Cated
Surez, 16,137-153. The essay analizes political language and studies the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic dimensions of
the term "popular sovereignty".

4
Skinner, Quentin (1993). Two Concepts of Citizenship. Tijdschr Filosof, 55(3), 403-419.

5
Habermas, J urgen (1996).The European Nation State: Its Achievements and Its Limitations: On the Past and Future of
Sovereignty and Citizenship. Ratio J uris, 9(2), 125-137, J e 1996.

2
globalization. But, at the same time, he points out that the challenges that arise form the
multicultural differentiation of civil society and from trends towards globalization, throw
light on the limitations of this historical type.
Niraja J ayal (1993)
6
brings up another aspect of the problem: multi-ethnicity. This author
refers to another ancient notion of the term nation (taken from the political science), which
was brought up to date by the ecological movements, and states that the coterminality of
nation and State is the central legitimising principle of the modern State, which has recently
come to be challenged by a variety of ethnic groups across the world. In the essay, the
author identifies two such challenges: a) The Claim of Alternative Statehood, which
endorses the coterminality of cultural and political community, challenges the political
boundaries of existing nation-states, and grounds its secessionist demands in a more precise
congruence between nationality and State; and b) The Claim of Alternative Citizenship,
which does not threaten the nation-state, and seeks only protection for the special
requirements of cultural community, for which it demands autonomy, mechanisms and
rights. It is argued that the failed promise of pluralism in modern multi-ethnic societies
demands a rethinking of the notion of citizenship.
For her part, Duran De Seade (1979)
7
calls our attention about the fact that the concept of
People (Volk) is useful for the analysis of Hegel's political work. She analyzes the concept
of people at three different levels. It is first analyzed as a community united by historical,
cultural and political ties. At the second level of analysis, she refers to the theory developed
by Hegel, in which People and Government and their relationship give coherence to any
political issue and are involved in the concept of State. At the third level, she relates the
concept of People to historical aspects and emphasizes Hegel's conclusion that only when a
People has acquired the form of a Political State, it can become part of it and contribute to
world history.
Within this framework, there is a key element regarding the Philosophy of the State, which
has been left aside during the last 150 years of political debate on the setting-up of State
and society. It has to do with the fact that the formation of both elements, State and society,
is a historical process and not a legislative act. In other words, the development of society
and the development of a people until its setting-up as a State are processes that take place
in practice as a result of everyday social work. And this everyday work shall be
maintained until a coherent setting is attained for the establishment of a "we" notion, and it
shall become a key element for partnership with "others" that are really endowed with this
same double condition. This would also make them become one and the same as result,
both in practice and in theory.
This is exactly what Cruysberghs (1976)
8
refers to in other words when he analyzes the
fundamental part of Hegel's text on the Natural Law, when he points out the unfolding of
the various moments in the organization of a people, and finds out that the spirit of a
people, the economic life, the law (das Recht) and politics are considered to be organic
moments of ethical life.

6
J ayal, Niraja Gopal (1993). Ethnic Diversity and the Nation State. J ournal of Applied Philosophy, 10(2), 147-153.

7
Duran De Seade, Esperanza (1979). State and History in Hegel's Concept of People. J Hist Ideas, 40,369-384.

8
Cruysberghs, P. (1976). De Zedelijke Organizatie van een Volk. Tijdschr Filosof, 38,236-263.


3
As it is the case for society, law, people, etc. a developed ethical condition is the result of
this process but not its starting point. Therefore, the main confusion that has emerged in
recent discussions has to do with the problem of asking conditions to behave as results, and
since they are not able to do so of questioning them for being incompetent. We could
also describe it as the problem of considering the expected concepts to be existent results
and of behaving according to this premise. If we see this from the opposite perspective, we
can say that this is just the way we act when we attack our adversaries' positions.
We can eliminate this confusion by understanding that we need to consider citizenship as
a process. According to the concept of citizen, an individual is a person as s/he is part of
the people, as s/he is an organic member of any society. In practice, citizenship is attained
and developed in a more satisfactory way by each person, and by the people as a whole, as
long as the relation between the individual and the people, freedom and democracy, State
and law is developed. In other words, at the beginning of this process we face a situation in
which the inhabitants decide to transform or most of the times simply transform from
plain individuals with birthright and the basic right of human beings into developed citizens
with individual and common rights that make them wholly civilized individuals or civic
individuals that constitute a civil society. So it is through the development of the society
led by the State and attained thanks to the work of the society and through the
development of national and global-oriented local networks of production and property,
that the citizen can be placed in the reality of the Society and the State.


The proposal of the productive network for local work
9

In order to implement the theoretical suggestions that were stated in the previous section, I
shall now propose a model for the development of the individual and of the people to be
attained through the development of citizenship. This, in turn, shall be achieved through its
participation in local productive networks oriented to the development of the society within
a framework of civic-mindedness.

1. In pursuit of the dynamics of productivity
The proposal of a network for productive work at the local level represents an
instrument for the attainment of an integrated development of the community and of the
highly intertwined area where it is established and where it interacts. Within the
community, each constituent abandons the circular model of argument and finds a
common way to overcome the crisis (see figure below).
It is extremely difficult to interrupt this circular model, which is made up of conflicting
claims, with unilateral action coming from just one of the sides. Theoretically, there is
very little pragmatic potential to get out of it, since each part considers the other part to
be guilty. This can be also applied to other traditional dichotomies such as public /
private sector, government / people, national / international, etc.





9
Kunkel, Roland et al. (1996) "Die Region als Wertschpfungsnetzwerk. Ein pragmatisch-systematischer
Beratungsbaustein" This is an unpublished work that resulted from a workshop, in which the author took part.
4
Strategy A
Radical costs reduction.
Everything results from the way
in which the situation is examined












Strategy B
Proposal for social
peace keeping
Interpretation A
Cost of the crisis
The worker and his/her
representatives have not
acknowledged the magnitude
of the problem. "Above all, we
must be competitive in the
world market."
This is only possible with a
reduction of costs.
Interpretation B
Distribution
Entrepreneurs and their
assistants are only worried
about burden distribution
from the bottom to the top.
This destroys society
and the fundamental
social consensus.
This intensifies
the problem
This intensifies
the problem

Figure 1. Circular model of the traditional discussion on the alliance for productive work


2. Continuance of the dichotomy capitalism / life quality
Each actor is not able to transcend the representation of conflicting interests by him/herself
from the ideological point of view. They can only conceive cooperation as the game of null
adding. This way, they stay in the destructive model of conflict preparing. The figure below
illustrates such behavior.


























Figure 2. Conflict styles
1/9
To give up, to subjugate
oneself, to forget about
ones goals, to avoid
disagreements, to iron out
problems, to harmonize
9/9
To solve problems
together, to develop
creative cooperation, to
look for the best solutions
as a group despite
difficulties and mistakes
5/5
Compromise, each one
dispenses with his/her
most important claim
1/1
To escape, to reject, to go
back, not to do anything,
not to contribute to solve
problems
9/1
To impose oneself,
to obligate others, you-or-me
to threaten others, to use power,
poker-strategy
Orientation towards my goals and interests
high





Orientation
towards the
goals and
interests
of the
opposing
party
low high
5
If we analyze the figure above, we can appreciate that in the process of society
reproduction where capital and work play a role, as well as the public and the private
spheres, business organizations, governmental bodies, civil partnerships and technology
production each social actor is forced to base their requirements and offers on
reliance and security-based relationships with the rest of the actors. This ties shall be
intertwined in a matrix of common and accepted interests, in which each actor is
aware of the fact that they will get much more than that concerning their own particular
interests as long as they let the rest reach their objectives too, within a shared model
that coordinate all actions. In this way, a society can win or loose as a community,
because this situation generates a high level of socialization and interdependence of all
actors.
The division of the society in (many) winners and (few) losers only takes place when
we do not make clear the collective damage that can derive from this division, in other
words, when we do not consider that many collective and particular benefits can be at
stake. In this sense, the increment of the Gross Social Product in a divided society
implies that part of the population must have been responsible for such a damage. And
this is what has been considered as the negative effect of development. Moreover, there
is something that is more important for the development of a consensus, since it can get
society out of that vicious circle of the traditional model, namely areas of social and
ideal reproduction (insecurity feelings, fear of been fired, etc.), which are in fact
considerably affected. This type of development, which diminishes well-being from
everyone, has not been taken into consideration so far in the public discussion.

3. The proposal of the value production process
We consider reasonable to introduce ourselves to society as a network of work and
efficient performances made up of indispensable and interdependent value production
processes of different nature. This would describe the complexity of what is nowadays
required regarding service provision and expertise for the reproduction of an ideal
society, both materially and socially. Each of these processes is very well known
internally and also in the near environment. Capital formation and appreciation
processes are analyzed and described in detail by the society. Many professionals
concentrate on their optimization. To a certain extent, this is also valid for specific
characteristics of fields of formation and reproduction of work capacity, nature, etc. But
regarding the problem of how particular processes engage to each other and integrate,
there are only a few contributions available.
Here, we will try to clarify in particular:
1. Which processes are needed for the reproduction of the society
2. How the engagement of those processes can be conceived as a synergy process,
as opposed to the game of null adding
3. How social actors can organize their cooperation within this framework
If the objective is to create of a context where social conflicts can be settled in a
constructive way, the set of policies to be designed in order to foster strategic
development planning must take into consideration the way the decisions of the social
actors can result in mutual benefit. We are far from this achievement nowadays. The
design of policies, as the logically structured dimension or capacity that can result in
centered and common decisions, requires connecting knowledge. It requires models of
productive interaction and expertise, in order to be able to generate an order, in which
6
the actions oriented to the future production can be rewarded, and those that work to the
detriment of the desired community can be corrected.
3.1 The process of creation of value needed for the reproduction of society
In Table 1 we describe what we so far consider to be the seven logics
10
or logically
structured dimensions of the process of social reproduction.

Logic Influences Results Characteristics
Life world Unemployment,
social consensus,
social relevance,
individual
reproduction in
social interaction
Membership One generation takes possession of their social heritage,
does something and leaves something as heritage, in
turn. Attainment of individualization, socialization in
the family, among friends and within the neighborhood.
Productive tension between the development of personal
integrity and social integration, appreciation of social
relevance and of social responsibility.
Work Expertise of work
capacity
Work capacity The qualification contest, the learning capacity, the
motivation/signification and persistence enable us to
move in the world in a educating and creative way, and
transform our experiences into tools and instruments,
behaviors and knowledge.
Capital Competitiveness,
gaining of new
markets, production
of material value,
measures for the
increment of
productivity
Material and
investment goods,
financial capital
It is legitimate that the capital market pretends to act as
profitable gathering center as long as it is based on and
validated by the sustainability principle.
There is clear knowledge of the origins of immediate
capital existence in each case.
Politics Political leadership,
cooperation among
actors, political
structure and market
of efficient work.
Collectively
assumed decisions
Whenever negotiation depends on social coordinates,
rules and agreements must be created in order to
constructively guide potential conflicts, so that the
formed interdependence relationships are always taken
into consideration.
Culture Self-awareness
capacity, self-
defense
Potential for
meaning creation
(priorities)
Our existence requires significant cultural and religious
frameworks of general interpretation in order to be
understandable. The reflection on which value is the
base of each behavior generates the strength and moral
support needed in uncertainty times.
Nature Social and
ecological problems,
social and ecological
tolerable growth
Solutions that give
new chances to
biological life
Modern humans do not care for nature. The destruction
of ecological circuits is highly dependent from the
development of favorable conditions for economic and
social human life. We have not desisted from the
attempt to destroy biological life conditions.
Innovation Innovation potential
in management and
R&D
Qualitative
improvements
New ideas that alter the established procedures generate
fear. Only the ability to neglect the evident and
certainties can bring the doubt and the necessity to
develop new ideas. When this happens, we manage to
go, in practice, from the acknowledgment of the value
of new ideas to the implementation of such extensive
possible modifications.
Table 1. Value production of the logics


10
The term "logic" was first used in German (Logik) and we are using it in Spanish (lgica) because we have not found a
better translation yet. For this paper in English, we are using the term "logic" for the same reason.
7
8
3.2 The assembly of the process of value creation in action networks
The nodes of the network that constitutes the work of a society are actors with
autonomy for decision-making, which represent before the outer environment and
process in the inner environment the legitimate claims of one of the logical
dimensions indispensable for the good functioning of the whole. The connections
between the nodes represent the interdependence of the actors, which determines that
the action of one of them has a consequence for the rest. We have named "Creator"
the network of efficient work and actions, because the content of the activities of the
actors constitutes the value, which is required by the society in order to be able to
achieve its ideal reproduction, both materially and socially.
We will now focus on the formation and use of values and on the good and bad
procedures for the assembly of the process of value creation.
The internal assembly of the logical dimensions or logically structured capacities
is represented in Table 2 (see next page). Here, we can more clearly appreciate why are
there loss/benefit games in society, at least in the intermediate level, namely because
the interdependence of the logical dimensions grows more and more.
We also make clear how much provision of expert services and of tacitly expected work
is needed in the society and is no way appreciated in reality. So, for example, it is
possible that capital and work export burdens to the life world or to nature, generating
dramatic damage. But since those logics can only be articulated through the action of
key partners, they are just not considered as they should be. To think that the damages
have thus a greater effect is a terrible mistake.

3.3 Cooperation among social actors
Each attempt to impose oneself in the short term at others' expense in such a complex
structure of influences generates such conflicts in the midterm that the benefits obtained
are again destroyed. Moreover, the results of one logic are again used by the rest to test
(on an expertise base) their own efficiency processes. This way, actors capable to
impose to others destroy the environment that they need for their prosperity.
Within this framework, the network of efficient work and actions can be considered to
be very perturbing, since each one of the actors that work in each of the processes of
value production has specialized significantly. Therefore, they can hardly perceive the
strong and weak points of the rest of the logically structured dimensions, although they
are all effectively intertwined. They are usually not aware of how they hinder, block
and sometimes even destroy the processes of other logics. They do not consider the
possibility that they can be required for the production of resources that shall remain
available to be used (for example, acceptance of new technologies).
Since the analysis ability of particular actors and that of the whole has not been
associated to the proportion of autonomous gain of the subsystem, there is an increment
of risks and of damage resulting from weak consensus in a framework of stable
dependence. The rapid processes of individualization (life world), specialization (work)
and deregulation, as well as those of globalization (capital) do not complement the
abilities to attain a systemic coordination through politics and culture. Therefore, it is
necessary that social actors generate ways of reflection that can result in efficient
performances, so that, it is possible to develop, once and for all, a general view of the
dynamics of development in which they are immerse.

9
Provides to Life world Work Capital Politics Culture Nature Innovation
Life world personal reproduction
personal
motivation /
signification
quality criteria
savings
final demand
confidence
real State value
voters
will to follow
need to negotiate
reflection
reaction to offers
living habits
old age
ecological claims
supportive
environment
motivation /
signification potential
Work quality
use values
client orientation
participation
earnings
occupational identity
exchange values
loyalty
expertise
hiring
knowledge
ability to solve
problems
need to negotiate
loyalty
meaning issues
implementation of
creative ideas
reaction to offers of
meaning
environmentally
sound work
will to learn
learning ability
will to innovate
innovative pressure
help to implement
innovative ideas
Capital reserves
unearned income
respect of tenacity
insurance
employment
fields of action
financing of
investment
earned income
self-limitation
resources for problem
solving
loyalty
need to negotiate
sponsorship
resonance
interest on
valorization trends
preservation of
tradition
ecologically sound
criteria
product liability
life-cycle orientation
financing of open
spaces
innovative pressure
help to implement
innovative ideas
will to innovate
Politics protection against the
right to self-
determination
security
access to collective
decisions
guidance and
orientation
knowledge-based
infrastructure
protection of tenacity
conflict procedures
sensitivity
planning security
stability
property guarantee
support for basic
innovation and future
markets
financing of open
spaces
consideration of this
opinion
meaning issues
preservation of
cultural tradition
diffusion of the
ecological truth
reward for ecological
soundness
crisis and conflict
management
financing of open
spaces
innovative pressure
will to learn
maneuverability
Culture potential of reflection
conversation
information
education
orientation
esthetics
development of ideas
ratification
stability of values
motivation /
signification potential
orientation towards
progress
efficient people
values and meaning
decision-making
criteria
background
respect of creative
issues, etc.
publicity
creative impulse
orientation towards
innovation
simulation
possibilities
Nature living possibilities
feedback
'chance to be humble'
catastrophes
health
raw material
magnificent examples
of productive
processes
feedback
raw material
catastrophes
good examples of
impact degree
sustainability
pressure to act
borders
feedback
realities
learning material
solutions that serve as
very good examples
innovative pressure
Innovation improving life-quality
standards
professionalization
chances
opportunities for
creative work
new markets
better appreciation
options
qualitative
improvements
worrying conflicts efficiency revolution
sustainability chances


Table 2. Exchange among the logical dimensions
We have seen attempts that have failed so far, precisely because of this: they are trapped in
old conceptions and social development models and are not aware of the complexity that
shall characterize a model adapted to this reality.
In this essay, we will only mention those actors that should take part in the negotiation.
Table 3 categorizes the actors according to the logical dimension that is aware of their
specific claims and that can be represented by them in the social process of problem
solving.

Logic Possible representatives
Life world Civil societies, social researchers, experts in the psychosocial field, feminist
movements, church
Work Trade unions, consultants, industry experts
Capital Investors, business and financial consultants, bankers
Politics Parliamentarians, government representatives, administrators
Culture Cultural associations, media representatives, artists, church
Nature Ecological associations, natural scientists
Innovation Creative technologically-oriented entrepreneurs, technologists, specialists

Table 3. Possible representatives of the logics


Actors must use a moderate discourse and remain attached to their own logical dimension,
to the specific worry and concern and to the nature of the specific process of value creation
that they represent. Only this way by confronting and not by adding the perspectives of
the various actors is it possible to achieve a general view of social dynamics.
The idea that those actors represent society as a whole, so that we can get from them a
systemic coordination, has just been a generally accepted hypothesis so far. But this
hypothesis must first be corroborated in practice. We have counted on consensual models
of regional development that do not take into consideration the dimensions of culture and of
the life world, which implies that meaningful actors remain without representation. We
believe that the reduction of the problem to mainly economic factors does not result in a
real consensus, much less when we are talking about the distribution of burdens and
demands. So, we ask the representatives of politics to represent the life world and the
culture, when it should not be the case. Another significant example would be our approach
to the innovative potential, which is sometimes reduced to its technological dimension,
which actually subtracts from it its political, social and personal dimensions.
The person who does not learn to approach the situation from the perspective of this
differentiated matrix of different types of costs and benefits, is a burden, both as an actor
and for the logical dimension that s/he represents, since s/he would consequently act as if
s/he were an authentic independent sphere. This also makes this actor offensive and subject
of attack. All this means that social and personal negotiation abilities are mutually
dependent. If the actor is personally capable of negotiating, s/he will also be so in the social
field. The opposite is also valid.
In the next figure, we try to show how fundamental contradictions of the logical dimensions
can unite when there is the need to reform coalitions and blockades.



10
4. Liberation and mobilization of work capacity
Since many people are already familiar with the concept of social and organizational
work capacity (human resources), we will refer to it very briefly. Work capacity
involves all the elements that, under certain circumstances and conditions, constitute the
basis for success in terms of material and spiritual (re)production, as well as it is the case
with the constitutive elements of capital, market or politics capacity. The concept of
capacity or condition needs to be analyzed here as a concept that is meaningful in two
ways.
First, it shall be an indicator of the potentiality of the investment basis. The constitutive
elements of capacity cannot be offered or exteriorized in any circumstance or at any
price, which also applies to favorable conditions and efforts that favor the concession
process. In this sense, potentiality would be here all that which is acknowledge
(observed) and promoted. Capacity depreciates when it is at rest.
Second, it has to do with the "ability to do", which would be the ability that can be
expressed. What can we do? What do we need the ability for? Why do we have to be
able to do something? To be capable of doing something, which we just said to be a
constitutive element of capacity, means to activate the elements according to what was
analyzed and planned, considering the goals and sustainability parameters. It means,
precisely, to put in value.
The constitutive elements of work capacity are: meaning motivation/creation,
qualification, learning capacity, cooperation and continuity. Their existence determines
the achievement of a high innovation rate, self-organization, results quality, as well as
the availability of resources.
























11
12

Potentialities Circle

















Blockades inner circle






























Incorporation of new associates
and care over existent markets


Domination and rapid
acquisition of markets

Learning how
to channel the
socio-
ecological
innovation
basis

Routine
optimization of
innovations


Free to be used
as wanted


Sustainable
production and
life forms


Defeatist
reflection

Meaning-
focused
reflection about
the moment


Competent and
competitive
labor force

Dependent
workers


Welfare
consistent of
having and
spending a lot

Prosperity and
good life

Cooperation of
actors and
competent
settlement of
conflicts

Botched job
with the risk of
social
Darwinism

Innovation
Nature
Work Culture
Politics
Life world




Figure 3. Modifications to limitations and potential of coalitions
Lack of vision for
ti productive
investment
Speculative
gains
Employment
decrease
Speculative
investment
(financial and exchange
situation)
4
Quality and
efficienc
of public services
Decrease of
people's
loyalty
Unemployment
4
4
4 4
Civil servants' loyalty
decrease
Fuctional elites'
discouragement
and ostentation
4
Social cohesion
(projects, init iatives,
local support)
5
Internal and externa
appearance of
the city
4
Pressure for
rationalization
within
politics
Formation
of slum areas
5
External
investment in
the city
4
Rejection of
taxes
3
2
Forced savings
(Without civic
rticipation, models
or the capacity to agree on
savings priorities)
5
Wrong management
of work
capacity
5
1
Incomes in
the city budget
l
t t
2
State support and
other
subsidies
6
6
The more x, the
more x
The more x,
the less x

13

The figure above shows that the limitations to the advances towards local productivity are
more than a simple vicious circle. They form a network of negative impacts, which arise, as
in the case of Venezuela, from the almost absolute dependence that the local governments
have upon the resources that they receive as a result of the national budget distribution.
This problem can only be comprehensively solved through the decentralized participation
of the citizens, this is, at the level of the different seven logics described in table 2, which
shall create an interaction oriented to the establishment of the Local Productive Network.
The search of an organized interaction among the seven logics would pave the way for the
common design of the new local public measures.
In this sense, a concept of productivity aimed at the mobilization of work capacity is based
on the following principles:

- My action makes sense -
The processes aimed at the collective and consensual creation of strategies involve the
development of meaningful motivating visions, programs, proposals and goals, which
might be ambitious but possible and key to the attainment of success.

- I can -
This has to do with the key competencies assigned to the different actors.

- I should, I must -
There are organization forms that support autonomy, reinforce learning capacity and
flexibility, and are aimed at developing simple structures and processes.

- I want to -
This refers to motivation, because what I do would be relevant for me and for others
according to compromise, sense of responsibility and importance.

- We can, want to, should and must do -
This has to do with the collective dimension of work processes and of agreement
establishment, and with cooperation in the sense of creation of productive work
relationships that can serve as a base for the productive settlement of problems and
conflicts, but also in the sense of a favorable and respectful treatment of the strong and
weak aspects of each actor.

In sum, we consider work capacity to be:

- the ability to do the best with what you have;
- the enterprising intelligence of the citizens, families and groups to design strategies
and goals from meaningful referents;
- the ability of professional and civil associations to assume collective responsibilities
and develop cooperation;
- the ability to meet the immediate needs by helping oneself and performing self-
defense not only in emergency cases;
- our capacity to learn by means of a constructive feedback;
- the good will to be proud of acting in an efficient manner and of being able to do
something by oneself.
14

This idea/objective of competent expert resources would be based on a highly
specialized methodical and social ability of men to commit themselves to meeting the
established objectives, to taking risks and to being able of making decisions under
complex circumstances. The more astonished, the less worried about the conditions for
motivation, independence and qualification. This would be the interaction relationship
between self-assurance and signification. Loss of vision implies the destruction of self-
assurance. Therefore, relevance (I am important; what I do depends on me and is about
me) constitutes a decisive relation between labor, economic and social events.
Only those who consider important not to surrender, and who still post demands and
know what they want, can act as responsible participants in a community process of
problem solving or conflict settlement.
To overcome the crisis it is therefore necessary to foster individualization, which shall
be based on professional formation, self-promoted work forms, self-management,
monitoring of individualization processes and group creation. This is a way in which
burdens and risks can be better managed.
Human resources are essential in work processes and in the formation of the Local
Productive Network. Those who do not capitalize on gains and do not continue
qualifying and renewing their motivation would be wasting resources that could be
becoming scarce or obsolete.
Here, the winner is the circular model, in which work capacity could be nowadays
trapped. Its liberation is only possible by means of a wide-range alliance against
incapacity of specific fractions of capital, politics, work, etc., which are responsible in
society for even acting in accordance to their own political will, and so forgetting about
the interdependence relation described.

5. The Model of the Local Productive Network and the new Venezuelan Constitution
The implementation of the model of the Local Productive Network involves the
increment and diversification of the citizens' participation at the local level. This would
imply that they would be able to intensively participate as representatives of any of the
seven logics described above, and not, as it has been the case so far, only take part in an
easy and oversimplifying way by electing their representatives, this is, by acting only in
the logic of politics.
This process of authentic local integrated development can only be achieved if we raise
decentralization of the national public powers and of the concept of citizenship itself by
means of the diversification mentioned above.
The technical document of the Summit of the Americas
11
on people's participation
suggests that public participation can be fostered by:
(a) ensuring the right and possibility of the people to take part in the definition and
implementation of sustainable development policies;
(b) supporting the people's efforts to organize themselves and to participate in an
effective and responsible way;

11
Summit of the Americas. People's Participation (technical document)
http://environment.harvard.edu/cumbre/esp/prtc0000.htm

15
(c) strengthening representative organizations in terms of their ability to receive,
manage and integrate the contributions of the citizens.

These three strategies proposed in the Summit of the Americas would create the
conceptual framework for giving priority to the national actions aimed at incrementing
people's participation in the decisions that need to be taken to attain sustainable
development. The implementation of these strategies requires:
< The enhancement of participation means. These are the mechanisms that make
possible the connection between the civil society and the government, as well as the
participation of the former in the design and implementation of policies for
sustainable development. These means include public hearings, referenda and/or
plebiscites, the incorporation of public consultant boards and other communication
and decision-making bodies. This, in turn, requires:
(a) the formulation of norms for notifications and local, regional and national
assessment;
(b) the definition of the rules regarding access to information;
(c) the creation of mechanisms of legal assessment, and
(d) the establishment of a legal framework for the organization, financing and
functioning of non-governmental organizations in a responsible manner.
< The creation of conditions necessary to foster responsible participation. This means
that civic organizations should be created and operate in a responsible and transparent
manner, and should be able to efficiently participate in the public discussion with
technical competence. Responsible participation can be strengthened through
education and training, access to information and technical assistance, as well as
trough a regulatory structure that enables the establishment, financing and functioning
of non-governmental organizations, while fostering their fiscal liability, transparency
and justification before the society.
< The reinforcement of participation in the representative institutions, which refers to the
legislative and executive components of the government at the local and national
level, as well as to the various organizations of the civil society responsible for the
creation and implementation of sustainable development policies. Within a
democratic framework, these institutions should act as true representatives of the
society, stimulating and fostering people's participation through dialog, and
implementation and monitoring of development policies. According to what was
suggested in the Summit of the Americas, a strengthened organization both public
and private must have the following characteristics:
(a) it should be capable of performing management;
(b) it should be able to plan, implement and control development programs and
policies;
(c) it should leave space for diversity by rescuing the identity of the main social
groups and from differentiated regions;
(d) it should function in an efficient, equitable and legitimate way; and
(e) it should be able to add systems of organizational education, learning and
training systems.

16
Finally, the Summit of the Americas observes that representative organizations can
get stronger if they improve the services of research, access to information and
technical support by strengthening the internal and external communication
mechanisms. This would provide the means necessary for coordination within the
government and increase the transparence of the decision-making processes creating
the mechanisms needed for the request and consideration of the citizens'
contributions, and training them as well as civil servants in consultancy and
collaboration methods and techniques. This idea is related to a lot more than just
information; it has to do with its processing to create knowledge, which is nothing
else than "the logic of innovation", the newest of the seven that were described in
table 2.
Two more elements have to be taken into consideration within the model of exchange
of the seven logics for the Local Productive Network to be gestated and for the
development of decentralization to be attained "to its logical conclusion" until the
decentralization of people's participation covers these seven spheres of public action.
These two elements are the inclusion of young people and the reduction of the size of
the State.
According to Durston
12
there are five different forms of young limited citizenship.
These are refused citizenship, second-class citizenship, disregarded citizenship, latent
citizenship and gradually built citizenship. The first one refers to the excluded
sectors, to those who are denied the right to exercise their citizenship due to racial
discrimination, lack of participation spaces and little access to the necessary
knowledge. The second type affects those sectors whose citizenship is implicitly or
partially neglected and who face a series of obstacles that hinder the exertion of their
right. The disregarded citizenship is the one rejected by young people who have the
means and space to exert it, be it from the first or second-class type. The latent form
of citizenship exists when young people have not found a cause that mobilizes them,
but they are willing to participate; it also occurs when a young person who had
participated before gets paralyzed and demotivated. Finally, built citizenship refers to
the need of the society and the State to gradually build spaces, values and favorable
attitudes that enable the effective exertion of citizenship by all sectors.
This built citizenship, as defined by Durston, is the one that results from the gestation
of the Local Productive Network through people interaction within the framework of
the seven logics. The new constitution must ensure that young people can integrate
and build what would be their own future.
With regard to the reduction of the State's size, we have to say that it requires not
only decentralization of the central power, but also decentralization of power itself.
This can be achieved if the decentralization process corresponds to and is based on
the increment of the people's participation.
A decentralization process entails the transfer of a series of decisions, attributions,
competencies and resources to the different governmental levels, as a way to
democratize society and bring it closer to the local government. The idea is to break

12
Durston, J . Limitantes de ciudadana entre la juventud latinoamericana. In: Revista Iberoamericana de J uventud
(Madrid), Nr. 1, J uly 1996. p.84-89. Centro Interamericano de Investigacin y Documentacin sobre Formacin
Profesional. Organizacin Internacional del Trabajo.
<http://www.cinterfor.org.uy/public/spanish/260cinte/temas/jovenes/doc/pub_per/rij/libro3/index.htm>

17
away from the idea that the public sphere is an asset owned by a few people and that
the society cannot take part in it. This process implies that we have to train and give
the tools to both the governments and the people assuming new tasks. We are talking
about a process of construction of people's participation as the key axis for power
exertion, which implies favoring everyday collective decision-making in the public
sphere and thus participating in planning, implementation, assessment, following-up
and monitoring of public policies.
In Irma Lara's
13
proposal of a system of people's participation for Mexico City we
find the following objectives:
The institutionalization of people's participation in the public sphere, which shall
go beyond the establishment of a legal framework. This implies that both the
government and the people must create favorable conditions, mechanisms, spaces and
efforts for the exertion of effective participation.
The development of new forms of organization of the people and of government
structures that enable feedback, decision-making, enrichment, adjustment and
renewal of public policies.
The improvement of institutions, procedures and regulations that allow people
supervise government administration.
The generation of new forms and spaces for coordination and negotiation among
citizens and between these and the government for the creation of policies, programs
and projects aimed at the development of the city.
The effort to generate a culture for people's participation which enhances the way
the citizens take part in the government's exertion of power and which allow the
former to strengthen their power as compared to that of the latter.

Irma Lara suggests that these objectives can be reached through a strategy of
compromise and participation of different actors, who shall act as representatives of
the seven logics mentioned above. This strategy would be based on the following
pillars:
A. The establishment of a specific structure for people's participation with
autonomous character that should bring together a set of steps (territorial
structure at different levels) and possible actions that could complement the
participation channels (plebiscites, people's initiatives, referenda, consultations).
These would make possible for the people to take part in different ways and
modalities when necessary, both as individuals and as groups, from the locality,
parish or town, and to be able of submitting specific proposals as social groups.
B. The creation of new bodies within the government and the administration
structures, which can act as the counterpart of the structures of people's
participation to stimulate interaction, dialog with the citizens and effective work
of the territorial delegations that have the power to make decisions, and so
efficiently take care of particular issues in certain spaces of public management.
C. The attainment of possibilities for coordination between the citizens and the
government, which enables decision-making through negotiation and agreement
between the parties.

13
Lara, Irma. Propuesta de un sistema de participacin ciudadana para la ciudad de Mxico.
<http://www.rim.unam.mx/TRABFIN/partic3.htm>
18
D. The creation of a legal framework that regulates spaces, attributions,
competencies, procedures for people's participation and the way the government
shall be linked to the citizens.
E. The development of communication and information processes that endow
citizens with the necessary knowledge and analysis to participate in public
issues.
F. The gestation of education and training processes for the better qualification of
the participation of civil servants and citizens in general, as a way to contribute
with the formation of social, political and governmental actors with a higher
concrete implementation capacity.

This aspects that are essential for the attainment of effective, permanent and
acknowledged participation, as well as many others that could be proposed, are
elements that have to be systematically ensured by the new Constitution.
They would also function as efficient and effective means for the reduction of the
State's size, which would reinforce governmental management as well as the
relationship between the citizen and the authorities. This means that we have to
work hard in order to bring some national and local issues that are now being treated
by the public sector to the private sector or to the civil society, as long as we do not
leave aside the common good.
In this sense, we agree to a great extent with the opinion of Arturo Valenzuela
14

from Georgetown University that the democratic State is not an antagonist of civil
society, but a reflection of social diversity. So, the crisis of the democratic State
would not be the result of a lack or an excess of authority and thus no antagonism
should exist between the civil society and the democratic State. The latter should
reflect the diversity of society and, at the same time, it should project authority
exertion. Authority is necessary, but it has to be transparent and responsible. In a
democracy, authority cannot hide behind tradition or power; at the end, it has to
justify the decisions taken and it has to convince the people about the fact that the
authorities deserve support and trust. This is possible through a growing
participation of the people.
The gestation of a civil society that is more autonomous and that protects its
interests with a greater impetus requires the creation of non-traditional participation
mechanisms that enable the establishment of a more dynamic and positive
relationship between the State and the civil society. Democracy cannot be
materialized only through periodical elections; the citizens have to ensure the
transparency of administration and directly participate in public tasks. Therefore, we
have to highlight and make clear in the Constitution that it is important to establish
mechanisms aimed at supervising fiscal activities and at protecting democracy.
Some of these important mechanisms that would ensure participation beyond the
elections could be, for example: the creation of civic commissions in public bodies,
meetings that can be attended by the common citizen and by the media, the access to
documents of governmental bodies, the participation of citizens in official debates,
the access to the financial information of public servants, the creation of

14
Valenzuela, Arturo (1996) Promover la democracia en la dcada del 90: El desafo ante los educadores cvicos.
Georgetown University. http://civnet.org/civitas/panam/papers/valenzsp.htm
19
ombudsmen, referenda to revoke public mandates, parliamentary interpellations,
local autonomy in fields such as education, etc. In sum, we are talking about a
systematic, organized and permanent participation in the whole process of exchange
among the seven logic dimensions.
Finally, when we refer to the importance of the gestation of a Local Productive
Network, we have to take into consideration Valenzuela's advice: "We should not
mistake the democratic State for the market, for capitalism." In this sense, the
market does not ensure democracy and democracy is not equal to a free market
economy. A huge State can distort democracy if it erodes the representation and
participation mechanisms of the citizens.
We also have to consider this other advice of Valenzuela: "It is important that the
coming generations understand that democracy is, above all, a system that enables
the administration of a modern society with the observance of its diversity and
complexity." The sovereignty of the people implies how capable a society is of
agreeing on the pacific ways of being in disagreement by setting the foundations for
the establishment of public policy structures. The latter constitutes, in my opinion,
the development of the concept of people towards the concept of citizenship.


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21