Participatory Practice
their poor neighbours, but plenty of stigma stereotypes in their heads. Seventyone people died and all that was left was enormous grief, trauma and tons of ash. Later it emerged that the fire spread due to council decisions to clad the building in cheap, unsafe, flammable material, putting the lives of everyone who lived there at risk. More than that, it was estimated that over a hundred buildings in Britain had been clad in similar material to Grenfell, violating basic fire safety regulations (Ledwith, 2020). ‘The Grenfell disaster was caused by the lack of regard that the rich councillors of Kensington and Chelsea had for their poorer neighbours’ (Dorling,
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2018a: 87).
Stories such as these illuminate the starkness of the change in values, not only threatening the very nature of democracy, but questioning the moral compass of governments that sanction the abuse of human rights in rich countries where poverty is a political choice, not an economic necessity. Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. (Mandela, 2005)
What do we care about? What are our values? The dominant way of seeing the world is constructed by the powerful, but it has a massive impact on everyday lives in community. Ideas influence public attitudes and, subsequently, social policy in the interplay of power and disempowerment. Understanding how this happens is the basis of effective participatory practice interventions. Individualism does not encourage a way of life that takes a collective responsibility for the well-being of all. It is more likely to justify why some people are privileged while others are in poverty. Consumerism, driven by market forces, has justified levels of exploitation and greed that increase social divisions and deplete natural resources, with the consequence that life on Earth is adrift from the ecosystem on which it relies. Biodiversity and cooperation are concepts based on respect and reverence for the Earth and all humanity. This perspective comes from an awareness that there is a balance to life on Earth, that we are all part of a complex ecosystem that can only flourish in its interconnectedness. The New Economics Foundation (NEF),1 which works with people at grassroots, and campaigns and produces research for political change at the top – a vital connection for participatory practitioners – calls for a new economy based on: 1. A new social settlement: A new social settlement will ensure people are paid well, have more time off to spend with their families, have access to affordable housing, know there is a decent safety net if they need one, and are provided with a high level of care throughout their lives. 60
