SNUBBING groups that fail
the "progressive test", whereby they are required to show that they
are "sufficiently progressive in order to merit a place at the
table", is an "inherently illiberal and counter-productive"
approach to community-building, a new report from the religious
think tank Theos argues.
The report, Making Multiculturalism Work, by David
Barclay, who is the Faith in Public Life officer at the Contextual
Theology Centre in east London, warns that such an approach is
"killing off the potential for friendship across difference, and
encouraging retrenchment rather than transformation".
Mr Barclay suggests that the
qualification for working with a group on a community project
should be its willingness to work with people from different
backgrounds and perspectives: a "relational test". Such "political
friendships" should also involve allowing participants to be open
about their motivations, including faith.
Launched last week, the
report is based on the premise that state multiculturalism has
failed, and that relationships in communities grow from "everyday
side-by-side activity" rather than face-to-face discussion aimed at
securing adherence to "abstract national values".
The report is the result of
interviews with 20 individuals involved in community work. It
diagnoses "the withering of the public square", pointing to the
decline in membership of political parties, trade unions, and faith
groups, and suggests that people need to be equipped in order to
engage in common action in their communities.
It suggests that not discussing "wedge issues" - areas where
participants disagree strongly - can make such issues even more
divisive in the future. Furthermore, while heavily critical of
"snubs", Mr Barclay acknowledges that there will be times when it
is "perfectly right" for an individual or institution to
discriminate on whom they work with, and under what
circumstances.
www.theosthinktank.co.uk