Engaging the Marginalised

Author: Marilyn Taylor

Where do people develop the skills and confidence to engage effectively in citizen democracy? There are many exciting examples of innovations and activities genuinely engaging people. But how do we reach the people who are rarely heard, who do not expect to be heard or even that they have anything meaningful to contribute? Over the years there have been many programmes and interventions to support the most left behind communities, with varying success. 

So what have we learnt?

Listening

If the most marginalised people are to engage effectively in democracy, they need to know that they will be heard. Outside support is important. It can offer additional knowledge, skills, ideas, contacts and time (which can be a rare commodity in communities that are struggling to survive). But it must be ‘on tap rather than on top’, building on the day-to-day experience of local residents and developed in partnership with them, rather than coming in with preconceived ideas and models. The starting point has to be really listening to people on their doorsteps, outside the school, in the pub, respecting and valuing their knowledge and ideas as the basis for action. Too often in the past this has not been the case.

Connecting

Power comes from people discovering that they are not alone or inadequate, that their experiences and concerns are shared. This allows them to challenge the stories they are told by the external world and to create their own narratives instead, to work together to explore and test out their own solutions.

Connecting needs to be supported within communities but also across communities. Particularly important over the years have been programmes and organisations that bring residents together with their peers across the country, learning from each other, being inspired by each other – finding out they are not on their own. This is what creates power.

Democracy needs the spaces and opportunities that allow people to connect, with people who share their experiences and concerns but also with people ‘unlike us’, to understand alternative points of view, seek common ground and confront stereotypes.
But public spaces have been privatised, public transport withdrawn, libraries and youth clubs, pubs and local post offices closed. And while the internet offers virtual spaces, these exclude those who have no access to the internet, who cannot afford it or do not have the confidence to use it. Its undoubted potential has been soured by misinformation and trolling, as well as creating bubbles where the last thing people do is encounter views different from their own.

A lot of attention has recently been given to the erosion of ‘social infrastructure’. So new and innovative spaces need to be created – community hubs, social supermarkets, community parks and gardens, free wifi to name but a few - to bring these resources and spaces back into the communities that most need them. But support and outreach is needed to ensure everyone who needs them can see their potential and access them.

Investment

Creating and supporting these connections requires investment - long-term, trusting and patient – in support, in spaces for dialogue and action in and across communities, in opportunities to test ideas out and put them into practice, sometimes in skilled conflict resolution. After all, the problems people are trying to address are complex, their own resources - of time, of money, of physical and mental health - are very limited, and relationships are sometimes challenging. It takes time as well as humility on the part of those who seek to help. And it undoubtedly involves risks. But it is essential if citizen democracy is to be spread to everyone.

Marilyn Taylor has been involved in place-based community development for many years, including the community programmes of the New Labour years and more recently Big Local (localtrust.org.uk) and Community Organisers (corganisers.org.uk), where you can find more about frameworks for action.

Read more about our Citizen Democracy Series here.

The publisher is Citizen Network Research. Engaging the Marginalised © Marilyn Taylor 2024.