Building Community
If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.
~Margaret Mead
What does it take to build community? Or better yet, what are we to give? Do we have enough resources to do it? Let's start with a story:
~Margaret Mead
What does it take to build community? Or better yet, what are we to give? Do we have enough resources to do it? Let's start with a story:
The 18th Goat
Settle in. Here's a story about about increase without loss....
A long time ago, in a far off land, a young man went to a wise old woman to help solve a problem caused by the death of his father. "You see", he said. "My father left 17 goats in his will, one half for my eldest brother, one third for my younger brother, and one ninth for me. The problem is that we will have to kill some of the goats in order to abide by our late fathers wishes, and there is no point in doing that."
The woman thought for a moment, proceeded to her pasture, and returned with one of the goats to give to the three brothers.
"That is very generous of you, grandmother, but how does your gift help us?" the young man asked.
"You now have 18 goats", said the woman. "Give your eldest brother half of them, that is 9 goats. Your younger brother shall have one third of them, which is 6, and you shall have one ninth, which is 2 goats. Your father's wishes will thus be granted."
"9+6+2… But that is only 17 goats in total", said the young man. "What shall we do with the 18th one?"
The woman replied, "By the grace of all that is great, you may return the one that is left to my pasture."
Question: What can you give that might open things up for everyone?
A long time ago, in a far off land, a young man went to a wise old woman to help solve a problem caused by the death of his father. "You see", he said. "My father left 17 goats in his will, one half for my eldest brother, one third for my younger brother, and one ninth for me. The problem is that we will have to kill some of the goats in order to abide by our late fathers wishes, and there is no point in doing that."
The woman thought for a moment, proceeded to her pasture, and returned with one of the goats to give to the three brothers.
"That is very generous of you, grandmother, but how does your gift help us?" the young man asked.
"You now have 18 goats", said the woman. "Give your eldest brother half of them, that is 9 goats. Your younger brother shall have one third of them, which is 6, and you shall have one ninth, which is 2 goats. Your father's wishes will thus be granted."
"9+6+2… But that is only 17 goats in total", said the young man. "What shall we do with the 18th one?"
The woman replied, "By the grace of all that is great, you may return the one that is left to my pasture."
Question: What can you give that might open things up for everyone?
Restorative Practices to Build Community
Restorative Practices can be integrated into daily life in order to build and maintain community. In this way people work together better, prevent harm, and address conflict restoratively when it does occur.
One thing I'm finding here in the U.S. is that our whole notion and understanding of "community" itself needs work. It's really good to discern the difference between the nature of community and a the nature of a network of individuals. Quite tricky in a culture like the U.S. where doing something in the name of individual freedom is so pervasive; we might well use the word "community" for a group from which we can come and go at will without (much?) concern for how that impacts others. Just drop in! Or out! In these days of increasingly internet mediated interaction it's even easier to do that, because we're not even going to run into people at the grocery store, or anywhere else on the land we live on.
Let's look a little closer at how we organize ourselves, what is it really? That way, when we do work to "build community" we know what we're aiming for. Here's something to think about from the article Using Emergence to Scale Social Innovation: "...It's important to note that networks are only the beginning. They are based on self-interest--people usually network together for their own benefit and to develop their own work. Networks tend to have fluid membership; people move in and out of them based on how much they personally benefit from participating.... [In Communities of Practice CoP's] [p]eople share a common work and realize there is great benefit to being in relationship. They use this community to share what they know, to support one another, and to intentionally create new knowledge for their field of practice. These CofPs differ from networks in significant ways. They are communities, which means that people make a commitment to be there for each other; they participate not only for their own needs, but to serve the needs of others. In a community of practice, the focus extends beyond the needs of the group. There is an intentional commitment to advance the field of practice, and to share those discoveries with a wider audience. They make their resources and knowledge available to anyone , especially those doing related work...."
So, that. Figuring out in what ways we are and are not organizing ourselves as true community. It's hard to make progress toward creating a more healthy community, when group norms are unexamined and are more in the nature of a network. My experience is that people - me included, I'm a people - have passed over this consideration and then gotten stuck. Really stuck. And confused. Some people "committed" and others not. Some thinking, "How could they?" and others thinking, "I never committed [to that]!" Ugh. Painful
So if you want to build community, stop and consider first, what that means, where you are, and address that first. Don't assume that everyone is on the same page. At this level, restorative principles and some restorative process and practice offer clues as to how to approach this dialogue.
Once we have a community, maybe even just a tender sprout of a community, we can go more deeply, asking: What does a healthy community look like? What kind of social system to we want to have? Restorative principles are a good guide for the nutrients we need to be healthy in community. Restorative process and practice offer ways to put these into action in healthy ways, including ways to engage ongoingly with the question of how to live well together now as contemporary people.
One thing I'm finding here in the U.S. is that our whole notion and understanding of "community" itself needs work. It's really good to discern the difference between the nature of community and a the nature of a network of individuals. Quite tricky in a culture like the U.S. where doing something in the name of individual freedom is so pervasive; we might well use the word "community" for a group from which we can come and go at will without (much?) concern for how that impacts others. Just drop in! Or out! In these days of increasingly internet mediated interaction it's even easier to do that, because we're not even going to run into people at the grocery store, or anywhere else on the land we live on.
Let's look a little closer at how we organize ourselves, what is it really? That way, when we do work to "build community" we know what we're aiming for. Here's something to think about from the article Using Emergence to Scale Social Innovation: "...It's important to note that networks are only the beginning. They are based on self-interest--people usually network together for their own benefit and to develop their own work. Networks tend to have fluid membership; people move in and out of them based on how much they personally benefit from participating.... [In Communities of Practice CoP's] [p]eople share a common work and realize there is great benefit to being in relationship. They use this community to share what they know, to support one another, and to intentionally create new knowledge for their field of practice. These CofPs differ from networks in significant ways. They are communities, which means that people make a commitment to be there for each other; they participate not only for their own needs, but to serve the needs of others. In a community of practice, the focus extends beyond the needs of the group. There is an intentional commitment to advance the field of practice, and to share those discoveries with a wider audience. They make their resources and knowledge available to anyone , especially those doing related work...."
So, that. Figuring out in what ways we are and are not organizing ourselves as true community. It's hard to make progress toward creating a more healthy community, when group norms are unexamined and are more in the nature of a network. My experience is that people - me included, I'm a people - have passed over this consideration and then gotten stuck. Really stuck. And confused. Some people "committed" and others not. Some thinking, "How could they?" and others thinking, "I never committed [to that]!" Ugh. Painful
So if you want to build community, stop and consider first, what that means, where you are, and address that first. Don't assume that everyone is on the same page. At this level, restorative principles and some restorative process and practice offer clues as to how to approach this dialogue.
Once we have a community, maybe even just a tender sprout of a community, we can go more deeply, asking: What does a healthy community look like? What kind of social system to we want to have? Restorative principles are a good guide for the nutrients we need to be healthy in community. Restorative process and practice offer ways to put these into action in healthy ways, including ways to engage ongoingly with the question of how to live well together now as contemporary people.
