Kemmis Calls For More Face-To-Face Problem Solving
Kemmis called on leaders to practice a new form of politics, He suggested that leaders can invite citizens to get involve, to “assume the mantle of citizenship around issues in their own communities.”
And he called on universities to think differently about their roles. He described how universities could open ‘spaces’ where politicians are invited to experiment with different ways of working with people to get things done.
Kemmis’s views have been forged in the real world of politics. He served in the Montana Legislature as House Speaker and is the former Mayor of Missoula, Montana where he was known as a consensus builder. Since September 1996, he has been Director and now Senior Fellow of the University of Montana’s Center for the Rocky Mountain West.
Kemmis has written three books: Community and the Politics of Place, The Good City and the Good Life, and This Sovereign Land. His numerous articles in national magazines and journals cover topics ranging from community building to Western states’ politics.