The round table – furniture that opens the doors of democracy
A table where parliamentarians can meet for discussions in the lobby of the Swiss parliament building in Bern.
(Christoph Balsiger, swissinfo.ch)
swissinfo.ch
A table for regulars in a restaurant in Hägglingen, canton Aargau, 1954
(RDB)
RDB
Warsaw, February 6, 1989: start of talks between members of the government, the trade union Solidarity and the Catholic Church.
(AFP)
AFP
A nursery school in Zurich, where the children regularly sit in a circle.
(Keystone)
Keystone
The daily journalistic briefing by heads of the daily newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung is held while standing around a round table.
(Keystone)
Keystone
The painting Holy Communion by Jaime Serra, who died in 1405
(akg-images)
akg-images
East Berlin on February 19, 1990: first deliberations between the ruling communist party, affiliated parties, and citizen organisations.
(akg-images)
akg-images
NATO Council conference in Paris, 1955
(akg-images)
akg-images
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table with the Holy Grail, a French illustration from the 15th century
(akg-images)
akg-images
Group therapy
(AFP)
AFP
Brokers gathered around the round table of the Zurich stock exchange. On August 15, 1996, the institution discontinued the practice of allowing the orders to be passed among brokers.
(Keystone)
Keystone
In ice hockey, tradition calls for the players to huddle in front of the goal before the start of the game to give their rallying cry.
(Keystone)
Keystone
A gathering whose purpose is a bit difficult to determine …
(Christoph Balsiger, swissinfo.ch)
swissinfo.ch
What to do when tensions burst or a crisis threatens? Or when adversaries won't give an inch? Often the key to finding a solution is exemplified in a piece of furniture – the round table. Here is one big advantage: Everyone gathered around can talk to each other at eye level.
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Studied history and politics at University of Bern. Worked at Reuters, the newspapers Der Bund and Berner Zeitung, and the Förderband radio station. I am concerned with the Swiss practice of modern direct democracy in all its aspects and at all levels, my constant focus being the citizen.
They might be kindergarten children, revellers at a cocktail party, or perhaps ministers and presidents at an international summit. For all of them, gathering in a circle is the most suitable way of enabling communication between people.
A round table has the advantage of levelling the playing field for all participants. Differences in power, influence, legitimacy, nationality, ethnicity, background, gender … all these considerations can be temporarily set aside. The round table: could this be humanity’s most democratic piece of furniture?
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