Arete
Arete is an independent think tank for free formation (bildning) and democracy. We are driven by the conviction that formation, curiosity and critical thinking are decisive for an open and democratic society. Arete is independent of party politics and religion, and is sustained by the support of committed members and contributors.
What is a folkbildare?
Folkbildare is the word we use for the person who, through pedagogical skill, creates the conditions for every human being to live a life of dignity. A pedagogy of popular formation is about seeing, hearing and speaking to the other as an equal intelligence, and its transformation is emancipatory in nature. Popular education proceeds from the assumption that a person’s ambition, motivation and desire are grounded in the will to a good life together with others.
An education shaped by popular formation is democratic. This applies to both form and content, and rests on the original function of education, instruction and upbringing: to break the reproduction of a static society. A dynamic society is always democratic and pluralistic. A democratic education gives people the possibility of taking an informed and independent position on questions of the good life, while also weighing such positions in relation to those of others. A formative education recognises that what holds people together is the insight that one’s own sensibility is also that of others. In short, popular education rests on a pedagogy that unites the ethics of responsibility, the politics of emancipation and the aesthetics of freedom.
Vision
Our vision is a society in which all human beings are given the possibility to develop their knowledge, understanding and voice for participation in democracy through free and voluntary formation.
Background
Arete was founded to strengthen free popular education.
Board
Our board consists of Carl-Anders Säfström (chair), Johanna Iggsten (secretary) and Daniel Berton (treasurer).