ThesisPDF Available

Just Facilitation: Facilitating Sustainable Social Change in Contexts of Injustice

January 2011

DOI:10.13140/RG.2.2.23195.77606

Thesis for: M.Philosophy
Advisor: Eve Annecke

Authors:

Reos Partners Africa

How do we navigate social change in response to pressing contemporary issues of justice and sustainability? This thesis starts from the assumption that dialogue is an important step towards deepening our collective understanding of these issues and catalyzing change, which provokes three questions. Firstly, what is the relationship between justice and sustainability? Secondly, following Kahane’s work (2010) on the practice of balancing “power” and “love” to propel change in stuck social systems, is this enough in contexts of injustice? Thirdly, if a facilitator is committed to justice, what does this mean for the principle of facilitator neutrality? Focusing on the particular issue of racial injustice in South Africa and its implications for navigating change towards a more sustainable future, this thesis approaches these questions from theoretical, first person narrative and empirical perspectives. The theoretical work is based on a multi-layered literature review comprising a survey of texts on facilitated social change, a review of sustainable development literature, and a critique of the literature on justice. Reframing these various literatures through the lens of privilege, especially continuing white privilege in South Africa, brings into focus the following theoretical claim: A more sustainable future is inseparable from a more just future (which, in South Africa, means a more racially just future). However, the obliviousness of those who benefit from past and continuing injustice is a stumbling block to navigating collective change towards a more sustainable future, which implies a role for facilitators who are not neutral to injustice, but do not fall into the trap of activism either. From this theoretical platform, I tell stories of my own experiences of whiteness in South Africa and then introduce three groups which met for a sustained period between 2008 and 2011 and grappled with questions of race and racial justice in South Africa. These form the basis of the empirical research, conducted through 25 interviews with group members. The combination of theory, stories and data produces a more comprehensive set of responses to the original three research questions, some implications for facilitators, and an outline for a proposed module at the Sustainability Institute to strengthen students’ ability to contribute to dialogues on significant and complex issues. I conclude that when South Africans gather to talk in groups there is a high likelihood that they will want to talk about race, and that the racial composition of the group will be an important indicator of the temperature, pace and content of the ensuing conversations. The presence a facilitator brings to these discussions, beyond their facilitation skills and tools, is an important factor in negotiating a creative path which is neither neutral nor activist. Important too is the role of nature – as a location for these conversations, as a source of presence and renewal, and as a signal to remind groups of a deeper purpose – making tangible the connection between justice and sustainability. � �� ,�� -� � .�� /� �� !�0�� ,�� -� �� 1�� 2�� '(%( �� 3 �� 4�� 3�� 4� �� ,�� -� � .�� ,�� -� � � 0�� ,�� &�� !� � .� � � �� 5�� ,�� !� � � 6 �� &�� #��&�� ,�� &�� ,�� !��+�� ,�� ,�� !��0�� &�� '((7�� '(%%�� ,�� &��!�.� � �� '8�� !� � .� � �� 2�� !� � �� &�� iii �� !��.� � � � � �� !�� 9�� 9� �� ,�� +�� ,�� -� � .�� /� �� !�0�� ,�� -� �� 1�� 2�� '(%( �� 3 �� 4�� 3�� 4� �� ,�� -� � .�� ,�� -� � � 0�� ,�� &�� !� � .� � � �� 5�� ,�� !� � � 6 �� &�� #��&�� ,�� &�� ,�� !��+�� ,�� ,�� !��0�� &�� '((7�� '(%%�� ,�� &��!�.� � �� '8�� !� � .� � �� 2�� !� � �� &�� iii �� !��.� � � � � �� !�� 9�� 9� �� ,

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Just Facilitation: Facilitating Sustainable Social Change in Contexts of Injustice

Abstract

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