Citizenship and public spaces: From the set of rights to the construction of community

The present essay proposes a reflection focused on modern democratic notions of citizenship and participation, which respond, at the same time, to narratives and practices framed in either the individualistic liberal idea of democracy that emphasizes independence, reason and consensus based on formal rights; or, on the contrary, respond to alternative practical proposals that promote a substantive, plural and public participation. The discussion is centered in the relevance of public spaces in citizen life and develop a criticism about the attempt to make invisible their potential for shaping contemporary democracies through disputed space appropriations and disputes spatialized in public. Finally, a sociological approach is proposed to recover social inherency of conflict and its relevance in public life, particularly as a path to recognize otherness and to respond collective to social problems.