Page 268 - Mike Ratner CC - WISR Complete Dissertation - v6

Deliberative democracy may be distinguished from the general promotion of greater

dialogue in civic life by its central concern with empowering citizens through their direct

participate in governance processes and community change. As such, it is critical to establish the

“governance” role played by trained facilitators going into communities. One such case-study

called “Action and Change on Race” among others was examined for this paper because they

concentrated on racial problems in the community (though both have expanded to address other

topics.) This is important to point out because many groups surveyed emphasized the importance

of understanding the racial history of a community or an organization, including current dynamics

of race and power. This indicator was not present at the Albany dialogue on implicit bias although

race matters were talked about. This distinction is important for many reasons, particularly in the

planning stages of racial equity work. The legacy of previous efforts shapes places and

organizations and affects that “Metasphere” inducing further progress but where there is little or

disjoined history there can be a sense of lack of direction felt in meandering conversation so

looking at successes in other cities can be studied and talked about.

Understanding history, repeated patterns and attitudes can reveal deep influences in the

way any CC series on a focused social issues theme responds to current efforts towards an ideal

objective beyond the subtexts such as racial equity. Similarly, it is useful to recognize that an

organization and community has its own flow, into which any new effort must adapt and fit in

(Shor 2017). Groups doing racial equity or similar work often see their work as of highest priority,

failing to recognize that the community or organization has its own agenda, concerns, interests and

priorities. In speaking about “flow,” Barbara Major notes, “You will never have a successful

project if you don’t have a successful process. The community’s world revolves around process

and not just a project. Projects come and go, but for us, life is always a process.” (Flipping the

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