Mother Earth News 2007 by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub

Spirited Conversation

Today at Cal State, Williams has come to lead a discussion about her book, The Open Space of Democracy. Like much of her writing, it discusses the politics and power of place. When the doors to the large conference hall open, the participants make their way to the front of the room and pull out well-thumbed copies of the book, which is required reading on campus this year. Williams arrives a few minutes later. Moving into the half-circle, she greets people quietly but warmly - a quick hug here, a firm handshake there, her striking, gray-green eyes smiling a welcome.

The doors are closed and introductions begin. This is a diverse group, spanning a wide range of ages, cultures and ethnicities. Among them are Native American, Palestinian, Chinese, Israeli and Puerto Rican participants. Williams is pleased. At the heart of her work - what she is gently but passionately urging groups like this across the country to embrace - is the understanding that diversity, difference and dissent are healthy and to be encouraged. “The open space of democracy provides justice for all living things - plants, animals, rocks and rivers, as well as human beings,” she begins, reading from her book. “It is a landscape that encourages diversity and discourages conformity.”

Williams is well aware that encouraging diversity and dissent can be a messy business; that’s why she lobbies so strongly for meaningful dialog. “There’s nothing more exciting to me than rigorous conversation,” she tells the group. “It doesn’t matter whether an answer is right or wrong, only that ideas be heard and discussed openly. Look at our Founding Fathers and some of the wild debates they had,” she continues. “They dared to disagree passionately with one another, butremained open to what each had to say. Some even changed their minds. That’s healthy!”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.