SYSTEMIC GOVERNCANCE FOR PARTICIPATORY DESIGN AND
1.5 MOLAR AND MOLECULAR IDENTITIES AND KNOWLEDGES 55
1. Systemic Governcance for Participatory Design and Accountability 33 Derrida questions the notion of democracy as bounded tolerance. His concept of hospitality is wider and more systemic than tolerance.54
1.5 MOLAR AND MOLECULAR IDENTITIES AND
defined in racial terms as in the Apartheid era of South Africa and prior to 1967 in Australia. Oppo- sitional politics leads to predictable conflict that can be played out in un- predictable ways.
Sacred and profane, criminal and law abiding as a result of fol- lowing norms (for a number of rea- sons) other than those of the domi- nant, powerful culture. The process of marginalization (because of age, class, culture, citizenship, education, ability or class) is discussed, because it impacts on personal lives and pub- lic policy. I argue for transforma- tional changes to be made through systemic governance.
Age and definitions of childhood and adulthood need to be consid- ered. Life chances of children are linked with the life chances of adults and their families. The rights of chil- dren and the rights of adults are linked. White (2002) discusses “be- ing, becoming and relationships” as underpinning children’s rights. In a context where adults are without cit- izenship rights the rights of children are even more disenfranchised.
Male and female categories and continuums are discussed in terms of the rights of people who do not fit binary oppositional categories.
Tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge in age, gender, class and cultural terms and its value for creativity, social and environmen- tal sustainability and social change.
For example an innovative education project in the public sector is dis- cussed. It addresses a paradigm shift
from old compartmentalized think- ing to new systemic thinking and its implications for teaching and plan- ning the future of education.
Written knowledge and knowl- edge in word and action. Cre- ation and communication of mean- ing through the written word and communication through symbols, signs, art, drama and life.
Employed and unemployed/
wealth and poverty of choices, property owners and non-prop- erty owners and the implications for life chances are addressed by means of economic development with a focus on commodities ver- sus development and wider choices.
Addressed by means of systemic (multiple) measures and participa- tion (Amartya Sen, in Gasper, 2000) to avoid problems, for example: en- ergy for development can lead to in- creased drudgery if it is not accom- panied by participatory design and representation. If electricity is avail- able it can extend working hours instead of providing more time to study or rest (Pradhan and McIntyre, 2002).
Networked and un-networked groups. Castells (1996-8) develops an argument for networked society that stresses the challenges for those who are outside the web.
Working class and middle class categories and racial/cultural cat- egories are discussed with reference to education and the transformation in life chances through access to li- braries, places of learning, intergen- erational learning beyond the school
1. Systemic Governcance for Participatory Design and Accountability 35 walls, and support for access to ter-
tiary education.
Health and ill health/misfort- une in case studies of mental ill health in South Africa and Australia.
The links between animal and nature are discussed. Traditional Healing in Arrernte Aboriginal and Xhosa African culture involves ex- pressing symptoms in dreams visited by the animals, symbolic of the bush and the wild untamed, unrepressed areas in Xhosa culture and where
the identity of Aboriginal people is linked with the land through dream- ing stories.
The links across human beings, animals and machines (Haraway, 1991) are explored discursively to find ways to enhance consciousness.
The use of soft systems mapping and the use of the cogniscope software to assist exploring multiple variables (Christakis and Brahms, 2003) could help in this regard.
The concepts “knowledge” and “knowledge management” are rooted in the way we understand the world and the way we undertake research and what is considered to be legitimate research.
Grand narratives that try to encompass all elements undermine rich, de- tailed narratives that preserve cultural identity. In striving for systemic gov- ernance we need to walk the tightrope and maintain a balance between main- taining the detailed, rich subjective narrative (and the right to it) and a grand overview that explains it and somehow diminishes the vitality of the knowl- edge as lived experience. Nevertheless the rich detailed and tacit knowledge (as life) needs to be open and mindful to the negative potential as well as the positive potential within any framework. “Unfolding” and “sweeping in” can produce multidimensional knowledge narratives that are mutually enriched. From these narratives shared patterns and webs can be drawn or spaces can be honoured. In order to work with knowledge we need to have an open systemic approach. This is the main thesis.
Democracy remains the best option available. Despite being imperfect it is better than nothing. If you are a young person without the vote, democracy does not necessarily protect your rights, particularly if you are a French school girl attending a public school and you have been asked not to wear the headscarfe or hijab. If you were a citizen in Australia of Aboriginal descent you would not have been able to vote until 1967. If you are an asylum seeker without the protection of citizenship status, democracy does not help much.
Of course citizenship is desirable within a nation state and denial leads to limited life chances for some. But being a nation within a nation is an option and invoking human rights is another option.
How can we develop greater mindfulness in research, planning, practice and policy? The challenge for good governance and international relations is not only to try to redress the divides between those who can access the
digital economy and those who cannot. But to consider the challenge of different ways of knowing, different ways of being and earning a living that are now presented simultaneously as options.57
The central argument is the need for better communication – not just as a means to an end, namely greater representation of people and better rep- resentation of ideas, but also because communication is the very essence of life. The book provides examples for re-working governance. Conversation that is discursive is essential for governance and better international rela- tions. To be classified as a non-citizen makes one aware of the benefits of citizenship. Being an asylum seeker in 2003-4 in Australia or a black South African in 1988 would make one realise that human dignity is given only to citizens, not to non-citizens. The nation state protects only some not others.
Perhaps democratic rights based on rights and responsibilities of citizens need to be expanded to all human beings who can be free to the extent that they do not undermine the rights of others (including sentient beings).
“When one is forced by argumentation to consider and respond to alternative perspectives, then one gains the resources to break with the limits of one’s past and to embrace new possibilities. Enlarging one’s perspective may help partic- ipants find shared interests, discover new interests, or reprioritize their own in ways more consistent with others. . .” (Warren, 1999: 340).