“There is no finality, no finished state of being. There is only becoming, and becoming is a shared endeavour.”— paraphrasing Whitehead
In an age of polarisation, climate collapse, and political gridlock, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Many of us sense that our political systems, built on competition, control, and linear planning, are not only failing to address our crises but are actively deepening them. We talk about systemic change, but the systems themselves feel like cages, rigid, reactive, unresponsive to the living realities they claim to govern.
What if we’re thinking about politics in the wrong way? What if the real problem is not just who holds power, but how we understand power itself?
This essay explores a radical but essential shift: moving from politics as control to politics as co-creation. Rooted in process philosophy and the ethic of care, this approach invites us to see politics not as a series of solutions to static problems, but as an ongoing practice of participation, relationship, and shared becoming.
The Illusion of Control
One of the most pervasive illusions in modern politics is the idea that we can master complexity through systems thinking. We design models, metrics, frameworks imagining that, with enough data, we can fix the world from above. Yet, as the crises pile up, it becomes increasingly clear that our desire to control is itself part of the problem.
In governance, this illusion manifests as technocracy, the belief that smarter systems and better algorithms will manage human affairs more efficiently. In practice, this approach often leads to disconnection. Public policies are crafted in abstraction, without the nuance of lived experience. Metrics replace relationships. Efficiency replaces empathy.
On the other hand, in reaction to this control-based thinking, we see the rise of authoritarian nostalgia. The fantasy that a strong leader can cut through the mess with decisive action. Movements like MAGA, Brexit, and the far-right resurgence across Europe promise to “restore order” in a chaotic world. But these movements, too, are rooted in the same illusion: that clarity can be imposed by force.
Both technocracy and authoritarianism fail to address the fundamental truth that life itself is process, not product. As process philosopher Alfred North Whitehead taught us, the world is not a collection of fixed entities but an unfolding web of events in relation.
When we impose control, we end up breaking the web. When we embrace co-creation, we learn to weave it.
A Politics of Co-Creation
To think politically in a process-informed way is to ask: What are we becoming together? This shifts the focus from controlling outcomes to participating in emergence.
It means acknowledging that reality is dynamic, that change is relational, and that the purpose of politics is not to build static systems but to attend to life’s unfolding. This requires a different kind of leadership and governance, one that centres presence, attentiveness, and response.
A co-creative politics embraces:
* Deliberative democracy: Citizens' assemblies and participatory budgeting that invite people to shape their communities.
* Local stewardship: Empowering place-based initiatives that honour ecological and social interdependence.
* Shared rituals and public meaning-making: Creating communal practices for grief, celebration, and storytelling, recognising that politics is not just policy but meaning-making.
* Leadership as accompaniment: Leaders who foster spaces for conversation, not just command-and-control.
Co-creation is not soft or idealistic. It is a fierce commitment to relationship over control. It accepts that we cannot predefine the future but can shape it through mutual presence and shared action.
Green Politics as Co-Creation
Among mainstream political traditions, Green politics comes closest to embodying this approach. Greens are often accused of being impractical, but what they actually offer is a different political logic. They call for regenerative design, local autonomy, intersectional justice, and participatory governance, not just because these are moral goods, but because they reflect how life actually works.
In a process-oriented frame, the role of government is not to dominate but to accompany, to create conditions where local creativity, community wisdom, and ecological knowledge can thrive.
If you are seeking a political home that values emergence, care, and responsiveness, the Green movement may offer both refuge and challenge. It is not about enforcing a single vision, but about holding space for multiple futures to grow.
Inner Work and Outer Practice
If we are to engage with politics as co-creation, we must start by looking inward. It’s not just about shifting policies but about shifting how we think and act in relation to others.
Inner Work:
* Where do I cling to control in my political thinking or leadership?
* What would it mean to lead or serve without the need for certainty?
* Who do I need to listen to more openly, without filtering their words through my own agendas?
Outer Practice:
* Start a small circle of trust: three or four people meeting regularly to reflect on politics as process—sharing insights, challenges, and commitments.
* Advocate for participatory approaches where you live. Push for decision-making that involves those most affected.
* Challenge the logic of control in your organisation—whether it’s in project management, community work, or activism. Propose relational practices that make room for emergence.
Co-Creating a Future Worth Staying With
The challenges of our time are not just political. They are cosmological. They demand not just new policies but a new way of seeing ourselves as part of the world.
We don’t need leaders who claim to know the answer. We need leaders who can accompany us through uncertainty, leaders who know how to stay in conversation when the path is unclear, who understand that power is not something you hold, but something you share.
If we commit to politics as co-creation, we begin to repair the web of relations that makes life possible. We stop fighting over fixed positions and start listening for what is emerging. We let go of the fantasy of control and lean into the practice of careful presence.
This is not just the politics we need, it’s the politics we are called to create together.
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