Note from Sharing Power Cell 1
Note of a first Better Way cell on Sharing Power, held online 2nd June 2020
Aims of the Cell
Caroline Slocock, co-convenor of the Better Way, introduced the cell. The concept of power was at the heart of Our Call to Action for the Better Way which was launched at the end of last year: firstly the power of connection and community which we are trying to unlock, and secondly the fact that people feel powerless and that power is in too few hands.
We are at a crossroads moment, Caroline said. Things could go very badly and social inequality and divisions could deepen, or alternatively we can sense the possibility of opening up a new kind of society. This cell is a working group to share ideas and experiences, and develop new strategies which we can turn into a document to share across our network and beyond. Sue Tibballs has agreed to be a thought leader, and we will have a series of meetings over the coming months.
Participants introduced ourselves. We come from many different parts of the country and our experience extends across many parts of the social sector, e.g:
Social housing, homelessness, community action, community development and planning, community organising, migrants and refugees, advocacy and participation, participatory budgeting and citizens panels, the NHS, customer collaboration, grant-making, women and domestic abuse, policy development, social enterprise, campaigning, local government, social work and family support, relational activism, child protection, research, public sector transformation, international development, theatre and story-telling.
Our particular interests in the sharing power theme include:
Sharing power that is hoarded in too few hands.
Igniting the power that people have and don’t use.
Building power in places where people have not had the opportunity to do so.
The relationship between elected representatives and community democracy.
How power can be shared in the COVID recovery phase.
How organisations which are haver to change in response to the current crisis can do so in ways which are more deliberative and participative and empowering.
Race and power dynamics.
Strengths-based approaches and tackling stigma.
How theatre can tell untold stories ignite people’s own power and disrupt norms of how discussions take place.
Developing a shared understand of the term power, with a focus on making people’s lives more empowered.
Understanding better the barriers to sharing power.
The Power Sharing project
Sue Tibballs introduced the Sheila McKecknie Foundation (SMK) social change grid, noting that power is held in all four quadrants.
Agencies seeking social change have tended to focus their efforts on the bottom right quadrant (lobbying government or other formal institutions) but as Sue pointed out this quadrant has been the least interesting space for social change in recent years. Sue explained that social change can emerge from all four quadrants of this grid, and increasingly from the top half.
So in our discussions about sharing power we should not assume that the only task is to invite people who do not get heard to present themselves to politicians and business leaders. Change is complex and power is complex and we should keep that in our minds in the work of this cell.
Grace Wyld noted that the Power Sharing project hosted by SMK is working across civil society in London, with a community of practice of more than 200 people, and is considering the question, ‘What would it look like if civil society in London was better at sharing power in pursuit of social change, and how would we get there?’ Grace and Sue will be able to share learning from this project at future meetings.
Breakout sessions
Participants broke into smaller groups to discuss the questions ‘Whose voices are heard and whose aren’t?’ and ‘What does this tell us about power and how it works?’ Feedback from the breakout sessions, and the subsequent discussion facilitated by Steve Wyler, Better Way co-convenor, included the following points:
Unheard voices
There are many unheard and marginalised voices, not least disabled people, people with learning disabilities, families under child protection arrangements, homeless people, people with substance abuse, to give just a few examples.
Many of these are people who are deemed to be un-deserving or at fault, or regarded as ‘not like us’. Stigma is driven by fear, and is made worse by the failure of communication.
We should not be thinking in paternalistic terms, e.g. ‘giving people a voice’. People already have a voice, but the problem is that often they have few opportunities to use it or when they do they are not listened to. Moreover, what matters is not just whose voices are being heard, but also who controls and sets the agenda.
As we have seen in the Covid-19 crisis there is a struggle between local and national power, and an ever-present tendency to centralise decision-making and resources. This leaves many people at community level feeling powerless and ignored.
Spaces which allow voices to be heard
So how do voices break through? It is possible to establish public or shared spaces which allow people to speak for themselves, on their own terms. One example is the family conversations model which Camden council has promoted.
However, we noted that public discussion can be fraught with tension. In some cases participation is motivated by adversity and anger. Often discussion about change and what the future could look like is felt to be too ‘political’ and is discouraged.
How we and others can move forward
We can challenge ourselves to think outside of our group or network.
We should not limit ourselves by valuing only the professionalised perspective.
We can build more power, by hearing more voices, and nurturing the ability to act.
In discussions on this topic it will be useful to distinguish between different types of power – for example, power to do something, or power over others.
Next steps
We considered who else to invite into the group. Various suggestions were made, which Caroline and Steve will follow up together with Sue and Grace, and we will prepare a template invitation. We noted that we must not approach people expecting them to ‘represent’ a particular section of society. We are all engaging in a journey of exploration together, and bringing our various experiences and insights and connections to bear.
It was also noted that we could make contact with other agencies such as the Institute for Community Studies, Engage Britain, and also interact as much as possible with the SMK Sharing Power project.
Suggestions for discussion topics at future meetings were:
How can we and others create inclusive conversations, which can drive change?
As organisations are being ‘remade’ in response to the Covid-19 crisis, how can we and others do so in ways which share power better?
There is a lot of relevant experience on these topics within the cell and in our wider network. We agreed that we should make sure our discussion is well-grounded by assembling a collection of relevant practice examples, examining some in depth. Several members offered to produce blogs or video clips, and it was suggested that we could use the hashtag #sharingpower to disseminate learning from the cell and open up the conversations more widely.
Next meetings:
Wednesday 22 July, 2.00-3.30pm
Wednesday 16 September, 2.00-3.30pm