The King of dreams

By guest contributor Jeremy Swan

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‘In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free – honourable alike in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last, best hope of earth.’ Abraham Lincoln

News

On 28^th August 1963, Martin Luther King stood before a vast crowd of civil rights supporters in Washington DC and delivered his famous ‘I have a dream’ address. In the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial he spoke of his hope that his children would “one day live in a nation where they will be not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Martin Luther King’s address is remembered as one of the finest in modern history; one that still carries power today. Its profound impact owes as much to King’s passionate oratory as to the strength of his arguments. It is quite possible that the Civil Rights movement could have unfolded very differently had the speech been a flop.

King used the language of his audience to build up rapport and establish common ground. He appealed to shared American identity by referring to Abraham Lincoln and the Founding Fathers, and then built on a sense of historical continuity by placing the Civil Rights movement in this context. This sent a message that racial equality was fundamental to the American way of life.

Speaking of his ‘dream’, he painted a picture of American neighbourhoods and workplaces where black and white adults and children lived together in reconciliation, acceptance and mutual respect. King could simply have encouraged his followers gain freedom through violence, but instead he spoke of “our white brothers” and urged campaigners not to drink from the “cup of bitterness and hatred”.

This emphasis on peace and reconciliation indicated a deep concern for the common good of the races in American society. The Civil Rights movement was not to be forged by narrow factional interest, but driven by a vision of equality and a brighter future for all.  How might this play out in areas of deep conflict today?

Read on…

The full text of Martin Luther King’s Lincoln Memorial speech can be viewed here.

Walk the talk

Do you have a clear vision for what you would like to see your society look like in the future, one which is attractive not just to your friends and neighbourhood, but to wider society as a whole?

The last word

From the Bible, Revelation chapter 21, verse 4: ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’

The clashes in Egypt can only inflame the crisis

By guest contributor Jeremy Swan

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‘The human race tends to remember the abuses to which it has been subjected rather than the endearments. What's left of kisses? Wounds, however, leave scars.’ Bertolt Brecht (German playwright and poet)

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Writing in Friday Five last month, Jonathan Tame examined the relational underpinning of democratic structures in Egypt and argued that the trappings of democracy are valued only insofar as they lead to greater freedom and prosperity. For some Egyptians therefore, the removal of President Morsi was justified by his apparent failure to secure these gains for society as a whole. Yet so far, the ouster has brought only political intransigence and relational rupture.

The common ground established between the various groups in Egyptian society during the first days of the Egyptian Revolution is in danger of being lost as recent upheavals take their toll. The relational gaps in society, opened up during the rise and fall of Mohammed Morsi, can only widen as long as the current violence continues.

As the clashes between security forces and protestors rumble on, the danger is that the violence becomes self-perpetuating and contributes to the further undermining of relationships in Egyptian society – hate begets hate, to use the words of Martin Luther King. For the benefit of the whole community, all sides must first exercise restraint and bring an end to the bloodshed.

One of the major underlying issues of the Egyptian Revolution has been the lack of parity between the government and the governed. That sense of disenfranchisement which precluded the fall of Hosni Mubarak in 2011 has since returned, with different sides each complaining that their voices are not being heard.

As a result, some people are driven to violence in the hope that they can force a solution to Egypt’s problems. They are wrong. Only when the violence has stopped and the process of reconciliation begun can the Egyptian people start to see their vision of a freer and more prosperous society take shape. Violence will only make things worse.

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Daniel Philpott, Associate Professor of Political Science and Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, recently wrote a book entitled ‘Just and Unjust Peace’, in which he called for a season of reconciliation following the Arab Spring. Philpott discusses his ideas in a blog post for Oxford University Press.

Walk the talk

In the west, it is all too easy to take for granted our freedom to participate in public life. Yet the reality is that many people around the world do not share these same democratic rights. How are you exercising your democratic freedoms?

The last word

From the Bible, Matthew chapter 5, verse 9: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.’

The relational effects of zero-hours contracts

By guest contributor Jeremy Swan

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“I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.”  Jerome K. Jerome

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Research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) suggests there could be around one million workers in the UK employed on contracts with no guarantee of work. The study found that 14% of people on such contracts were not given enough hours each week by their employer, and that people aged 18-24 and 55+ were twice as likely as other age groups to be employed on this basis. While the economic costs and benefits have been explored extensively in the media, the relational impact has been given little attention.

First of all, there is the impact on working relationships. Where employees are contracted on a zero-hours basis the lack of continuity makes it harder for them to build strong relationships with colleagues and clients. This is likely to have major implications for client engagement and the team’s collective sense of purpose. It could potentially also create extra work for full-time staff members who would have to bring part-time staff up to speed. The use of zero-hours contracts tilts the balance of power firmly in the employer’s favour and smacks of injustice. Imagine asking a medic or vet to be ‘on call’ without receiving pay! Employees, meanwhile, may become less willing to engage constructively in a relationship that they deem to be unfair.

Then there is the impact on personal relationships. While zero-hours contracts offer flexibility they also create uncertainty. This makes it hard to plan social engagements as you are unsure whether you will be called in to work or not. With this uncertainty comes the danger of ‘continuous partial attention’, which is when we are not entirely present in encounters with others. A person gets distracted from the conversation because they are anxious that they may get a call requiring them to go into work. This reduces quality of time spent with friends and family.

Employment, when viewed through a relational lens, is about giving up your freedom to develop relationships in return for financial reward. In the case of zero-hours contracts, workers are being asked to limit their relational choices while receiving no guaranteed financial remuneration. This is hardly a recipe for a person’s relational wellbeing, or helpful in creating a more relational society.

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The FT have produced a short video entitled ‘Profit vs Principles’, which looks at the increasing number of companies that have refocused their priorities away from profit and towards the welfare of suppliers, employees and the environment. The video can be viewed here.

Walk the talk

Are you creating good working conditions for your employees or work colleagues that will benefit their relationships both in the workplace and in their personal lives?

The last word

From the Bible, 1 Timothy chapter 5, verse 18: ‘The labourer deserves his wages.’

Social media: taking relational responsibility

By guest contributor Jeremy Swan

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‘Social media is about sociology and psychology more than technology.’ Brian Solis (US author, speaker and analyst)

News

The problem of internet ‘trolling’ (sending abusive messages online) reared its head again this week as it emerged that feminist Caroline Criado-Perez received hundreds of threatening messages on Twitter after successfully campaigning for Jane Austen to appear on the new £10 note. Threats of rape and violence were also sent to female journalists and politicians connected with the campaign.

The strength of public feeling and support for the victims has been encouraging. Over 120,000 people have signed a petition calling on Twitter to add a ‘Report Abuse’ button to tweets, which they hope will alleviate the problem. This demonstrates that most people recognise that a line has been crossed and are motivated to do something about it.

Social media itself is not the problem, but it does present some issues. While the technology allows us to increase the number of social encounters in which we participate, it also makes it easier for some to hide behind a persona or veil of anonymity. For some, this ‘relational distance’ encourages the belief that they (like the ancestor of Gyges in Plato’s Republic) can act almost with impunity.

The technology can also have the effect of reducing our relational awareness, which prevents normal social signals from being taken on board. In face-to-face dialogue participants have access to a wide variety of information about how they are being received – tone of voice, body language, social tension, and so on – and there is also a ‘shame factor’ that can prevent abusive behaviour from taking place.

How do we tackle this issue? We cannot prevent people from posting abusive messages, but we can ensure that there is an effective mechanism in place to deal with them. This requires the co-operation of the law and social media providers. But we should be careful not to absolve ourselves of relational responsibility. By behaving appropriately online and encouraging others to do likewise, we can be part of the solution.

Social networking is fundamentally about building relationships, and this leaves us with a choice: we can choose to big ourselves up at the expense of others, or we can use social media to develop healthy and positive relationships that are of benefit to wider society. It is clear that these abusive messages have caused distress to Ms Criado-Perez, and this should cause us to consider the effect that our own actions online have upon others.

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In Plato’s Republic, Glaucon recounts the story of the Ring of Gyges while discussing justice with Socrates. In the tale, the protagonist stumbles across a ring that makes its wearer invisible and therefore enables him to act with near impunity. The full story can be read here.

Abuse on social media sites is especially worrying for those with young children. Consumer group Which? have produced a guide that provides tips on how parents can protect their children online.

Walk the talk

Have you given thought to how your behaviour online influences others? Are you behaving relationally towards others? When posting a message on a social networking site it is helpful to think ‘would I say this to the person face-to-face?’ If the answer is no, don’t post it.

The last word

From the Bible, Ephesians chapter 4, verse 29: ‘Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those that hear.’