Trust and forgiveness
Social movements throughout the planet are coalescing to fight the triumvirate that is serving to create conditions that actively and purposely erode the foundations of democracy, participation in governance, community, and the environment: government, big business, and multilateral political organizations.
It is increasingly evident that addressing the social, political, and economic transformation required to face the impact of their unchecked and unsustainable power, requires a movement that itself models and coalesces around the power of participatory governance, community, collective action, and the wisdom of nature.
The continuation of the efforts underway to create such a movement in the Global North is urgent given the potential such a movement holds to expedite the transformation in the way power moves in the North, in relation to the North and the South and in relation to humanity's engagement with nature.
Yet, despite the abundance of resources, talent, and will, social movements throughout the Global North, and in particular, in the United States, struggle to coalesce effectively, and to sustain the engagement and commitment of constituents, strategic partners, and grassroots organizations. The challenging landscape of relationship emerges as a high priority area of attention and investment in the effort to build platforms of engagement that encompass many types of differences: analytical, political, cultural, economic, religious, linguistic, etc. Beyond the language of conflict resolution, which is reactive, what is needed is a generative approach to building cultures of trust and forgiveness in order to unlock the energy and sustain the relationships often at the center of conflict.
Here are a number of philosophical principles that can support our collective efforts to create cultures of trust and forgiveness:
Understanding conflict (as Freire and Horton say) "the midwife of consciousness," an aspect of human relationships that is central to the learning process of people, communities, and organizations. Conflict creates the opportunity to listen deeply to the source of the conflict, the impact of said conflict on a system of relationships, and to address said impact. The process of learning through listening, observing the complexity of impact and relationships, and of learning what it means to fully address something, create an opportunity for systems of relationships to become more self aware, to learn, to tend to themselves, and to evolve their self perception with an eye to the future. In other words, learn and transform.
Understanding conflict (as Freud would have it) as the result of connection, not difference. Rather the repelling reaction to two positive parts of a magnet coming into contact with each other. This can be seen as a problem or an intriguing phenomenon to observe and eventually transform. Freud understood conflict as a phenomenon made possible by the sharing of foundational elements such as language, culture, values, or equal interests. The lack of conflict manifests when there are fundamental relational needs that are met so that people then can safely express difference, or when there is so much difference that people cannot even perceive them.
Understanding conflict as a cultural output, therefore requiring a cultural approach to manage it. Game of Thrones speaks to the masses because it reflects the cultural values that still thrive in Western societies: hierarchy, patriarchy, colonization, internalized oppression, etc. Conflict in that storyline occurs when opposing parties desire or aim to achieve the same goals, which often imply that only one of them can live unless they are willing to be made submissive. In a world as large as Westeros, there should be enough space for everyone to have their own Iron Throne, but somehow that's not what happens. Not until the dragon decides it's time for it to disappear because humans cannot seem to figure out on their own that the thing just needs to go. It's kind of what nature will do with us if we can't get it together as a species. (FYI- I am NOT a Game of Thrones person but I have been a little curious about what the big deal is and yes, it's this cultural phenomenon or what conflict is) Humberto Maturana-Romesín and Ximena Dávila often talk about suffering as a cultural phenomenon, that suffering, the shape of it, varies according to cultural values. For some people being disconnected from their families is a great source of suffering, and for others a massive manifestation of the possibility of personal emancipation, etc. All of this to say that conflict is cultural and its manifestation carries with it a cultural imprint that translates into particular behaviors and languaging that without a listening process can be invisibilized, misunderstood, and misread.
Understanding conflict as an opportunity to build trust and practice forgiveness, therefore a mechanism to strengthen community, governance practices, and to energize social movements. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy, in its creation story, talks about the state of the nations before they decided to join forces. They were in conflict and their leadership suffered as a result. They were unable to connect to each other in a way that allowed them the opportunity to respond to their environment properly and to have a generous spirit. The initial Five Nations shared history, lineage, and language. Their differences also came from history, place and lineage. The same thing that made them different also made them the same. It took an outsider Dekanawidah "The Great Peacemaker" and his spokesperson Hiawatha, a leader who had ties to both the Mohawk and Onondaga people to invite a different reality for the original Five Nations. Dekanawidah could see the gifts the people had to offer the world from outside of their system of relationship and he endeavored to help them see that. Hiawatha, in this instance a local leader, translated Dekanawidah's vision and validated it to his people and his neighbors, the Cayuga, Seneca, and Oneida people. The resulting effort to work through their conflict, with the support of Dekanawidah and Hiawatha was the creation of the Great Law of Peace, which is the foundation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the longest running uninterrupted government on Earth.
Engaging in the task of rethinking and strengthening our democracy implies redefining our relationship to difference, conflict, forgiveness, and engagement. This is a task that requires our full commitment to our own personal transformation as a constant project from which we can engage the transformation of society.
