How do you define/describe "sensibilities?" Merle Lefkoff > suppose you are trying to grow a diverse community. > > you want a shared culture for that community. > > you want to respect existing sensibilities that subgroups (and > individuals) bring to the new community. > > in many cases, gender and youth for example, a significant portion of > those sensibilities are not intrinsic to the group or to individuals > within the group, they are social constructs imposed on the group. > (feminism invests energy in challenging and changing many of the > sensibilities deriving from social construction, AARP does the same for > elders, relatively little is done regarding youth.) > > in all cases, sensibilities are ethnocentric - there are no cultural > universals! [I will be happy to discuss this with anyone who believes > otherwise.] > > conflict (intensity varying along a continuum) is inevitable: between > the umbrella culture of the new community and the existing cultures of > its members; between and among member cultures. > > question 1: how does the umbrella culture come into existence? (culture > IS a complex system) > question 2: to what extent does the umbrella culture trump the > ethnocentric sensibilities of its members? > question 3: should sensibilities based in social constructs be directly > challenged and/or ignored? > corollary question 3a: if you want more women in your community > should your interactions with them be constrained to > socially constructed norms? > corollary question 3b: if you want more youth in your community > should they be constrained (in terms of exposure, > participation, interaction, and > communication) to that which is > consistent with the social > construction > of youth? > question 4: how are the inevitable conflicts mediated? (recognizing > that the patterns, procedures, powers, and sanctions required for > mediation must be "built into" the umbrella culture) > > > > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org > > > >
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
