ABSTRACT
The development of inner democracy requires that a person should be able to let a diversity of I-positions participate in contact with other people and with the other I-positions in themselves. This chapter describes some factors that promote the participation: Developing a “dialogical capacity,” being able to set boundaries, and the acknowledgement of multi-voicedness, not just in ourselves but also in the other person. Inner democracy benefits from strengthening our dialogical capability. The factors that are essential for this capability include constructive disagreement with the other, suspension of judgment, and empathy. There are different kinds of boundaries between self and other: Soft, rigid, sponge-like, and flexible. Dialogue becomes stimulated through flexible boundaries. Democracy at large, and inner democracy, ask for a widening of the position-repertoire that we assign to groups in our society who we consider as “different from us.” This stands in stark contrast to the concept of social stereotyping, which invokes rigid boundaries.
