The Finding Fairness Project 
(posted December 18, 2001)

The Finding Fairness Project 1
1Barbara J. Nelson, Director
Linda Kaboolian, Co-Principal Investigator
Kathryn A. Carver, Senior Researcher

Objective:
To promote successful cross-community work in democracies with historic racial, religious, and ethnic conflict by identifying successful "concord organizations", determining their organizational and programmatic best practices, and supporting their efforts through research, dissemination, and conferencing.

Geographic Scope:
The United States, Northern Ireland, South Africa, and Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

Project Summary:
It is easier and more comfortable to live, work, and play in groups of people like oneself than it is to do these things in diverse groups. Notice that it may not be more imaginative, innovative, successful, or democratic to be with one’s own, but in the first instance, it is almost always easier and more comfortable. In situations where groups have historic animosity, the resulting mistrust, inequality, and violence can reinforce preferring to keep to one’ s own.

Societies need ways to accommodate group differences, whether these differences are relatively weak, as they are in the United States, or comparatively strong, as they are in Northern Ireland, South Africa, and Israel and the Palestinian Territories. Authoritarian and unequal separation is the major historic response to group differences. Needless to say, democracies need other mechanisms to manage group differences and antagonisms. At a minimum democracies need rules and practices that simultaneously achieve both universal political equality and community recognition in a setting of full political participation and low levels of state and communal violence. But after that, how, in the face of historic enmity, do people going about their everyday lives create ways of working together effectively to promote their common interests? How do people acquire the worldviews and skills necessary for successful cross-community dialogue, education, and other joint action?

The Finding Fairness Project provides insights into the acquisition of these community bridging worldviews and skills, more generally called "bridging social capital." The project seeks to answer the question, How do you create and sustain organizations and projects that provide the dialogue, education, and other joint efforts that shape inclusive worldviews and confer the skills of cross-community work? Without strong organizations engaged in this work, it is hard to imagine how individuals and thus societies can develop these democratic assets.

More Information: For information about programs of the Finding Fairness Project and written materials about the research contact Ms. Selene Baldenegro at baldenegro@sppsr.ucla.edu

 

1Barbara J. Nelson is the Dean of the UCLA School of Public Policy and Social Research. Linda Kaboolian is a faculty member at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Kathryn A. Carver is a public health and human rights lawyer. We wish to thank the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for its support.