“These spaces are where increasingly, they’re critical civic infrastructure. They’re what I think of as civic catalysts, and they are where people meet one another, with a bit of engagement and a bit of facilitation, where people can be encouraged to face into the challenges facing their local communities.”

Jon Alexander doesn’t perform when he talks. There’s nothing shiny about the man behind Citizens. But he names things most of us feel but can’t quite articulate. Like how the Labour government is collapsing.

Like how Reform might win the next election. Like how coworking spaces might be the only thing standing between communities and complete civic breakdown.

When Jon says he wants to be known for “figuring out what to do with politics before it all falls apart,” there’s an honest urgency that cuts through conference small talk and LinkedIn optimism.

This isn’t another conversation about community-washing or flexible workspace trends. This is about coworking as political infrastructure – and whether operators have the nerve to admit it.

Jon spent years watching the consumer story collapse – the idea that people are fundamentally motivated by self-interest, that democracy is just choosing between fixed options.

He’s seen what fills the vacuum: strongman leaders and authoritarian logic. Jon argues that the only antidote is stepping into what he calls the citizen story – the idea that all of us are smarter than any of us.

coworking spaces, Jon says, are where this happens. Not through manifestos or policy papers, but through the messy, essential work of getting neighbours to actually meet each other.

Of hosting events that celebrate what’s working before diving into what’s broken. Of creating the conditions where people discover they can face challenges together instead of waiting for someone else to fix them.

Bernie’s Write Club story proves Jon’s point. Starting with four people writing, growing to six, then twenty people sitting on floors because they had nowhere else to talk about their craft.

A guy showed up with a keyboard thinking it was about music writing until they explained it was writing club. You don’t need the Foo Fighters. You need love of place and the courage to start with what’s strong, not what’s wrong.

For coworking operators feeling the weight of empty desks and rising rents, this conversation offers something more sustaining than growth hacks or pivot strategies.

It offers a reason to stay in the fight that has nothing to do with occupancy rates and everything to do with democracy itself.

⏱ Timeline Highlights

[01:51] “A great book called Citizens. What would you like to be known for now?”

[02:00] Jon’s new mission: “Figuring out what to do with politics before it all falls apart”

[02:31] “It really matters to do what you’re doing and actually to see yourselves as political actors”

[04:09] The collapse framework: consumer story to subject story, with citizen story as the only antidote

[05:28] “coworking spaces are spaces for that to happen. Step up and acknowledge that.”

[06:51] Bernie on the London coworking Assembly response: “That’s the language I need”

[07:35] The ACTionism story: from climate anxiety to community action through outdoor retail transformation

[10:20] The celebration principle: “Start with what’s strong, not with what’s wrong”

[11:05] Cormac Russell’s framework: “Use what’s strong to fix what’s wrong”

[12:17] Bernie’s Write Club example: four people, then six, then twenty sitting on floors

[14:01] The drama triangle applied to politics: perpetrators, rescuers, victims

[17:59] “This work really matters, really matters” – Jon’s core message to operators

[19:22] The three principles: Purpose, Platform, Prototype vs the marketing 4Ps

[23:05] Bernie on spotting energy: “You find the people” through genuine interests

[25:40] Adrienne Maree Brown’s wisdom: “Inch-wide, mile-deep change that schisms the existing paradigm”

The We Work Delusion Is Dead

Jon doesn’t mention We Work by name, but his framework demolishes everything they represented. The old 4Ps of marketing – product, price, promotion, placement – trap you in thinking of people as consumers. You offer services, they consume them. You position yourself in the market, they choose you or don’t.

coworking spaces still caught in this thinking ask the wrong questions: What do we offer? How do we position ourselves? What’s our pricing strategy?

Jon’s alternative cuts deeper: What are we really trying to do here? What’s so big that we need people to help us do it rather than us doing it for them?

The difference isn’t semantic. One approach creates customers; the other creates citizens. One fills desks; the other builds democracy.

Bernie’s observation about spaces wanting to “be like We Work” – like wanting to be the Hilton or TGI Friday’s – misses what makes independent spaces powerful: their rootedness, their refusal to be replicated anywhere else.

Bernie mentions a space in Camden that had one of three gigantic 3D printers available in London at that time. Instead of leveraging that uniqueness, they wanted to imitate We Work’s failed model.

Jon’s framework would ask: How do we use this incredible resource to help Camden flourish? How do we make it meaningful for makers and inventors to participate in that vision?

coworking as Political Infrastructure

Politics, for Jon, isn’t about party affiliation or policy positions. It’s about power – who has it, who doesn’t, and how communities organise themselves to face challenges together. coworking spaces are political whether operators recognise it or not.

The question is whether they’ll be conscious about it.

The drama triangle Jon describes – perpetrators (councils, politicians), rescuers (interventionist organisations), victims (citizens waiting for solutions) – explains why community initiatives fail.

Everyone stays trapped in blame cycles instead of stepping into agency. Victims need to become creators. Perpetrators need to become challengers who work alongside rather than imposing solutions. Rescuers need to become supporters rather than interveners.

coworking spaces can break this pattern by creating conditions for citizens to move from victim to creator mindset. Not through workshops on civic engagement, but through the practical experience of organising something they care about.

Bernie’s Write Club didn’t start as a political act – it was writers wanting to talk about writing. But when twenty people are sitting on floors because they’ve found community around shared passion, that’s civic muscle being built.

Jon’s celebration-first approach isn’t naive optimism. Starting with “What do we love about Peckham?” creates different energy than starting with “What’s wrong with our neighbourhood?”

Love builds the container strong enough to hold difficult conversations about challenges. Problems divide; shared appreciation unites.

From Consumer to Citizen: The Transformation Framework

The consumer story – people as self-interested choosers between fixed options – shaped everything from politics to business models. Consumer democracy meant voters choosing between pre-set candidates based on personal benefit.

Consumer economics meant businesses competing for individual purchases. Consumer coworking meant members paying for services they consumed.

Jon traces how this story is collapsing everywhere. Brexit wasn’t rational consumer choice; it was emotional rejection of the entire system.

Trump’s appeal wasn’t policy comparison; it was promise of a strong leader who’d handle everything. The rise of authoritarian populism represents return to the subject story – citizens as subjects of powerful leaders rather than agents of change.

The citizen story offers different logic: collective intelligence, shared agency, collaborative problem-solving. In coworking terms, it’s the difference between providing services and creating platforms for participation.

Bernie’s instinct about not needing “a big hook to get people in” connects to Jon’s framework. The right hook isn’t a gimmick; it’s genuine invitation to participate in something meaningful.

The Three Ps: Purpose, Platform, Prototype

Jon’s alternative to the marketing 4Ps restructures how coworking spaces think about themselves. Purpose asks: What are we really trying to do that’s so important we need community help?

Platform asks: What structures make participation meaningful and joyful? Prototype asks: How do we spot and feed existing energy?

Purpose for most spaces connects to place. They’re not just providing workspace; they’re helping Camden become more creative, or supporting young entrepreneurs in Birmingham, or keeping artists in affordable neighbourhoods.

But naming that purpose as a question – How can we work together to make this place flourish? – invites participation instead of consumption.

Platform thinking shifts from programming events to creating structures where others can initiate.

Instead of Bernie organising everything, Write Club created space for whoever had energy for keyboard writing or poetry readings or journalism discussions. The platform enabled emergence rather than controlling it.

Prototype recognises that transformation happens through small experiments, not grand plans. You can’t necessarily become a full civic catalyst overnight. But you can spot when someone has energy for Sicilian cupcake events and feed that passion. Energy is the seed; community attention is the soil; shared space is the greenhouse.

The Economics of Inch-Wide, Mile-Deep Change

Adrienne Maree Brown’s framework – “inch-wide, mile-deep change that schisms the existing paradigm” – speaks directly to coworking economics.

Mile-wide, inch-deep approaches try to serve everyone and transform nothing. They chase scale over impact, quantity over quality.

Inch-wide, mile-deep means committing fully to your specific place, demographic, or mission. That Camden space with the 3D printer could have gone mile-deep on maker culture, on manufacturing innovation, on creative technology.

Instead of competing with every other coworking space, they’d own something unique and unreplicable.

This challenges the growth-at-all-costs mentality borrowed from venture capital and corporate expansion. Jon’s framework suggests sustainable coworking comes from deep community roots rather than broad market appeal.

You can’t franchise civic infrastructure. You can’t scale authentic relationship. You can’t automate neighbour-to-neighbour connection.

Bernie’s Write Club proves this works differently. Four people paying room hire wouldn’t justify the effort.

But twenty people sitting on floors because they’re hungry for community around their craft – that’s social capital that converts to sustainability in ways monthly recurring revenue spreadsheets can’t capture.

Start With What’s Strong

Cormac Russell’s wisdom – “Start with what’s strong, not with what’s wrong, and then use what’s strong to fix what’s wrong” – flips traditional community development logic. Instead of needs assessments and deficit mapping, begin with asset appreciation and strength recognition.

For coworking spaces, this means celebrating existing community energy before trying to solve community problems. Host events about what makes your neighbourhood brilliant before convening meetings about what needs fixing.

Create opportunities for people to share what they love about their work before addressing what frustrates them.

The practical application matters. Instead of “How can we address social isolation in our area?” try “What brings our neighbours alive, and how can we celebrate that together?”

Jon’s example of starting with Peckham appreciation – covering walls with what’s best about the area – builds the emotional foundation for harder conversations.

People who’ve shared love can navigate disagreement. People who’ve celebrated together can tackle challenges together. But the sequence matters: strength first, problems second.

Links & Resources

Jon Alexander’s Work

* Jon Alexander website: jonalexander.net

* Jon Alexander on LinkedIn

* New Citizen Project

Resources Mentioned

* ACTionism Film: 25-minute documentary mentioned by Jon

* Phoebe Tickell’s work on Imagination Activism and Moral Imaginations

* Cormac Russell’s book Rekindling Democracy

* Jon Alexander’s book Citizens: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us

Projects & Community

* Join this and other conversations with people in the LinkedIn Coworking Group

* Unreasonable Connection Monthly online gatherings for Coworking Community Builders.

* FLOC LinkedIn Coworking Recognition Campaign

* Workspace Design Show London 2026

* European Coworking Day May 2026

* London Coworking Assembly

* European Coworking Assembly

Bernie’s Projects

* London Coworking Assembly 5-Day AI Crash Course for Coworking Spaces

* Connect with Bernie on LinkedIn

One More Thing

Coworking brings communities together, helping people find and share their voices.

Each episode of the Coworking Values Podcast explores Accessibility, Community, Openness, Collaboration, and Sustainability—values that shape the spaces where we gather, work, and grow.

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