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California State University, Dominguez Hills
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Created: November 8, 2004
Latest Update: November 8, 2004
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu
Exhibit Projects on A Nation Not DividedThe call for these projects has come from my weekend engagement with the discussion on Transform_dom. I've been coping with disappointment and fear on the part of those who wanted the campaign that didn't exist: the one on the social issues agenda. And I've been coping with the anger and frustration of the left as it tried to understand where it went wrong when it knew that its cause was for the good of humanity. And I've been coping with the pain inflicted on those from the right perspective as those from the left accused them of stupidity and worse.Oh, I've been angry and hurt, too. But I've got something on my side: theory and illocutionary understanding and the dream of governance discourse. So I've been holding onto that in this flood of frenzied despair and frustration of each side with the other. I didn't really come out of that space until I began to interact with my students. Maybe some of yours, too, Susan. I'm never quite sure when we cross the country.
As I had to pull back to my teaching space in order to respond with a pedagogy of hope, I finally began to hear myself searching for illocutionary understanding, remembering that adversarialism has been compulsive, and that we need to step back from that negative space, and I egan to see the seedlings of governance discourse on transform_dom, right smack in the middle of our bickering over the need to stay on track with illocutionary discourse and respect for a lack of consensus along with respect for the Other. By Monday night, I was back to writing on theory and thinking deeply about ways to translate that into an academic-community bridge that would help us all past this irreality of discord that has been foisted upon us.
Discord sells. Look at Fellman's title: Rambo and the Dali Lama. Now which one do you think is gonna have the blockbuster movie??? Discord also kills. Mutuality leads to illocutionary understanding, respect for the life, beliefs, and feelings of the Other, and governance discourse that might let us govern a world without war.
I hope that some of you will be interested enough in translating this into visual sociology that we can plan a great exhibit piece.
Here's an example. Maria Rodriguez wrote in Message # 871 on November 8, 2004:
"(We work with clients on probation who are trying to pay their restitution). The other day my friend and i were working on a case. The person was in there telling us that he was unable to pay restitution for this month. My friend asked the client if he had a job. He quickly stated "NO". But she quickly responded "I am not surprised". I asked her why she had said that. She said "look with what people we are dealing". I felt bad because she was assuming that all people that are on probation don't work. I was so surprised to see how she expressed herself in front of the client. What should we tell such people?"I wish I had a ready-made answer, Maria. I don't. But knowing this friend you work with, can you think of a way toshow her that being on probation is sometimes like being trapped on the inside of one box (probation) and not able to get into the bigger box of jobs? Could we make some boxes and use some simple sock dolls to get people to visualize this? Could we use New Skin, or Why Rehabilitation Doesn't Work by Michael Witkofski, UWP, to illustrate the idea?
