Public Square is a platform for critical thoughts on society and the world in which we live. We publish contributions of different kinds – analysis, essays, visual works and commentaries – which point to important, though often inconvenient, aspects of society.

Background

In the Europe of today, and on a global scale, the strict rationales of neoliberalism are a driving logic. The rationale that “we must…” dominates and makes actual critical thinking difficult. This is true across political parties, economic and social domains as well as in the media. It creates a culture of consensus, a ‘culture of fear’ and a framework for formation and moral education, in which the logic of necessity is the sole ruler. On the art scene, in the space of academic and free thought, and on the stages of political debate the rationales of necessity cement themselves through a lack of aspirations of ‘the good society’ and examination of alternatives to the existing or the hope that something else exist.

To us politics is not tied to narrow parliamentarian frameworks or party political expressions, but something far wider, which also is connected to wide social processes, protest and movements that address the common, as well as the ways in which we experience, sense, and recognize the world and the way in which we share it.

We are situated in Copenhagen, and therefore our focus is always first off on our local, Danish, and Nordic context. But at the same time it is important to us to not be limited by this. Neither thinking nor our shared lives are defined by borders. So we constantly look to the broader European context, when we consider what is relevant to Public Square.

There is a need to give attention and create spaces for alternative thoughts, ideas, and energies, which introduce new understandings and visions across the artistic, cultural, and political contexts of Europe. Public Square aims to mobilize artists, academics, free thinkers and actors across different genres, and addresses current themes such as the economy, crisis, democracy, organization, right wing radical movements and migration, alongside philosophical themes such as love, hope, utopia and solidarity, which leads to more fundamental questions about our shared lives and the driving forces of human and society.