Reflections

For friends who know me I often joke about finding a nice hideaway to write my memoirs when I retire - (not far off now I've turned 30). I think I may have found it at the Berkeley campus, University of California - just across the bay from San Francisco. When I was studying for my undergraduate degree at Manchester University- Berekely was a renowned centre for anthropological research. One of the first ethnography's on Brazil that I read- "Death Without Weeping" by Nancy Scheper-Hughes was published here (and she is still based in the department). The campus seems quintessentially American with lots of greenery and gothic architecture adjacent to the quaint Berkeley downtown area full of independent cafe's and shops -my own little King Street (although I'm writing this in remorse for BBQ Chicken, which I understand has closed due to a massive hike in rent, with my other favourite eating place on the street- Dee Thai having already faced a similar fate). Gentrification of King Street into an "Anytown" High Street of pizza outlets and chain bars would be a real loss to that street's identity  - anyway enough of a rant about home...

Berkeley is a lovely campus town and I have pitched up in the university library to spend my last few days writing up my notes from the last 2 months. This blog has acted as an aide memoir and reading back I realise how my language swings from British English to American English interchangeably - so at times I talk about "organisng" and others "organizng" -Sorry!

The last 2 months have been awe-inspiring. Speaking to others in the same field of work, grappling with different systems of government, culture and language and most importantly seeing real examples of communities mobilising for change. I am planning to write a paper summarising the learning from this fellowship and I will post it on here once it is complete.

Final Thoughts
My thinking is still very much evolving, but i think neither community organizing nor participatory budgeting alone can be the panacea of civil society in Britain. By experiencing both processes in their authentic settings it is clear that they have both evolved due to a wider set of political, historical and social processes. They are also not stand alone processes and are part of a larger network of relationships and arrangements between the state and civil society - established and institutionalised over a period of time. There are however, some real commonalities in terms of the plight of communities in North and South America and indeed in Britain to affect change. Where communities have the capacity and skills to organise they can utilise participatory structures of the state to their advantage. Communities will only engage with such structures if they can identify a tangible benefit to themselves, their family or their immediate community. Such structures may also be restrictive and may limit the possibility of community involvement. Those communities which seem to have the highest levels of social capital seem most capable of circumventing these limiting structures and will often challenge the state and other power holders such as big corporations in a more direct way. There is equally a risk that some communities will not be able to organise so effectively and therefore risk further marginalisation where structures prevent opportunities for their full involvement.  


The relationship between the state and civil society is therefore a fluid one. There are often times when co-operation and collaboration is mutually beneficial, but equally there are times when the independence of civil society is paramount. These will be important points to consider as we consider policy initiatives stemming from the Big Society agenda in Britain - ultimately the agenda can only be led by Civil Society (and by Civil Society I mean residents and community associations, rather than larger NGOs - There seems a real lack of definition around this, but there is an absolute difference between grassroots community-led groups and the growth of  large, quasi "social purpose" conglomerates). There is however, a strong role for local government to consider its role as facilitator and co-producer of activities and actions responding to community need. 


Local government can and should respond by creating structures of participation which are meaningful and relevant, but equally recognise that communities will often organise outside of these structures (and often at odds with other local government processes) to address the issues that affect them. There is also currently a risk of pilot overload and as such these processes will be seen as a short-term, tinkering at the edges type approach which doesn't really reach or have any bearing on the wider population. There needs to be conviction and long-term commitment politically, constitutionally and operationally to any participatory democratic process...


Acknowledgements
This trip and the fieldwork I have undertaken has been made possible by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. Fellowship Manager Julia Weston has been a tremendous help in responding swiftly to any dramas along the way. She was particularly good humoured when I managed to complete my ESTA application incorrectly and was initially refused entry to the USA- fortunately this was quickly resolved.

The help of strangers along the way has been incredible and the list of people who barely know me but have helped, with contacts, accommodation, food and good company is endless; Sergio Baierle, Oli Henman, Phil Teece, Claudia Cunha, Rebecca Abers, Geraldo Campos, Dande Talveres, Sergio Torres, Karina Dino, Mila Pavlin, Sara Short, Erika Katske, Mike Miller, Sarah Swensen, Catherine Swanson, Gaelle Boesmans, Angela and Lenadro Rist and of course my friends Marika Stone, Claire and Tom Way and Ginny Skeen.  I've also made alot of friends over the past two months, many of whom I hope to continue a dialogue with and reciprocate their generosity should they ever fancy a trip to GY.

I'm returning to the UK with lots of practical examples, useful tools, case studies and a real desire to continue developing thinking around some of these concepts around community development. They are as relevant in Great Yarmouth and the UK as they are around the rest of the world and particularly now as we look evermore closer to communities being at the heart of driving social and economic change.

I would wholeheartedly recommend anyone to consider a WCMT fellowship. The web-site is
www.wcmt.org.uk  and the application is relatively straight forward- the deadline is sometime in October. I'd be happy to talk to anybody who might be interested in applying. I plan to be quite actively involved in the Regional Association upon my return (one of my promises to myself, inspired by everything that I've seen is to get more involved as a citizen rather than just a facilitator- although heading up any kind of demonstration outside the homes of unscrupulous landlords in GY isn't on the cards just yet)!