The Accountability Project

Democracy depends upon accountability: accountability requires us to be able to tell truth from lies; and to be able to tell truth from lies we, all first must agree that truth matters.

Naomi Wolf, The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot

In an historic moment for the United States and the world, how can we think productively and proactively about accountability—for our new government, for our previous government, and for ourselves as citizens?

Beginning in April 2009, Culture Project will begin convening monthly gatherings to ask these questions of real people: audiences, artists, activists, politicians, theorists, theologians, advocates, and ourselves. The Accountability Project will invest two years into opening up creative and thought-provoking dialogues about the most pressing issues of our times, including the very nature and challenges of accountability itself, the role of citizens in government, ongoing transgressions like torture and rendition, ever-present issues such as race and class, and increasingly urgent concerns like global warming, healthcare and the economy.

Harold Pinter said "I believe that, despite the enormous odds which exist, unflinching, unswerving, fierce intellectual determination, as citizens, to define the real truth of our lives and our societies, is a crucial obligation...it is, in fact, mandatory."

Indeed, democracy functions at its best when energized voices from all facets of society participate actively in it, providing critical commentary, innovative ideas, and new policy. With the election of a new president and unprecedented public interest in serious dialogue and change, it is critical now that we, as citizens, engage.

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