> 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>
>
>
>