Friday, 30 January 2009

Today, my leave was again interrupted for a trip to Cambridge for the inaugural meeting of the Regional Empowerment Partnership, run under the auspices of the Inspire East and the East of England Development Agency. Jen Wingate is doing a remarkable job at Inspire East and she and others gave a good overview of how the Partnership will work.

Several participants saw empowerment as a zero-sum transaction: that if power increases in one place it must necessarily reduce elsewhere. This model of empowerment concerns me as I believe it is flawed and is doomed to failure.

The approach is doomed because it is an adversarial model that invites people to compete over who gets the biggest slice of pie. It would be naive to ignore existing power structures and vested interests, but it is surely self-defeating to build an empowerment strategy around these competing interests.

The model is flawed because “empowerment” is not a scarce physical resource like oil or gold. “Empowerment” is an abstract concept and, as with “love” or “goodwill”, there are infinite and limitless reserves of empowerment. In any given community, it is perfectly possible for everyone to feel themselves to exercise more control over the decisions that affect their lives.

It is all a question of balance, proportion and partnership. The fundamental question is: what sort of community do we want?

Do I want to live in a society in which everyone participates in democratic processes, respects those processes and respects the rights of their neighbours? That sounds pretty good. Even better if there is a strong sense of community cohesion, a commitment to equality, a focus on individual freedom and responsibility and a systematic approach to protecting the environment and fighting poverty and ignorance. Yes! Sign me up! I want to live there!

Do I want to live in a society in which different interest groups compete daily to assert their entrenched views and impose their wills? Do I want the agenda set by powerful media barons and unaccountable political strategists? Do I want to live in a society where people are segregated and defined by their religion, class, race, salary, sexuality, age, health, postcode? No, I don’t. It sounds like a living hell. Count me out.