Our challenges

Sent: 18 février, 1999 18:16
To: l-comm@CAM.ORG
Subject: Our challenges

From Gilles Beauchamp, Chairman CIAC-ICCD 2000

Hello everybody!

Some 77 persons were registered yesterday morning on this general discussion list. This is the result of the first stage following our "Call " of January 1998 (see http://www.cam.org/~ciac/2000/ ). One third of these people are English-speaking, the other two-third French-speaking. Several Canadian and American networks will soon be contacted: thus the linguistic proportions should soon become equal. Our group is made of community organisers, researchers and professors.

Before introducing you to the questions which, I think, should be discussed on this list " l-comm ", I would like to say a few words on the many challenges we have to face as a "virtual community".

First the challenge of languages: we think (or we bet) it will be possible to exchange on our practices of Community organisation, Community development and on more theoretical questions (the Civil Society, social economy, social capital...) even if several persons among us are only speaking one language (English or French).

Our secretariat (thanks to Sophia and Zeenat) will facilitate the translation (in short) of some messages or contributions. However we ask those who can do so to summarise their position from one language to the other. You can use some translation tools (quite imperfect, it is true, as you probably guessed, I'm using one of these, right now!) available for free on the Internet (see http://babelfish.altavista.com/ ). After all, beyond linguistic barriers there are practices that we all wish to mutually understand and share.

There is also the challenge of writing: " practicians " are not famous for being fond of papers! Whereas some professors or researchers seem to write more quickly than others can read! Therefore, if some will have to make special extra efforts to write and read, others (beginning with myself?…) will have to make efforts to summarise…However, we are not there yet: we ardently wish to receive , for discussion, your texts which could nourish our first exchanges. I shall come back on this.

Moreover, there is the challenge of the cultural differences. To tackle a complex question such as that of Civil Society may already raise many ambiguities (and discussions) between people of the same country! Then how challenging it is to discuss such a question from an American, an English, a Canadian, a Québécois, a Nepali or a French point of view! However, at the same time, it is probably the only way to produce a true vision of what civil society is: comparing how it is modelled, supported or harnessed by States which have different backgrounds and structures.

Questions particularly treated in l-comm@cam.org list

The first question concerns the importance of " civil society " in our countries... In what ways Governments are using organisations and institutions from the civil society to achieve goals defined and controlled by them. We will certainly have to clarify what one understands by this concept, which is at least as galvaudé and polysemous as those of community or development...

This list could also be a place to discuss transversal questions such as the stakes and effects of globalisation of Community development practices...

I currently work on two documents that I intend to put on-line for discussion. First, a collection of comments about a study carried out by Statistics Canada on the practices of voluntary help, donations and community participation in Canada. This study includes interprovincial comparisons that emphasize a significant difference between Quebec and other Provinces. This reveals different visions concerning the roles of the State and the Civil Society... One can get for free the conclusions of this study on the web site of Statistics Canada (I will give you the web site address in a forthcoming message).

Secondly, I would like to discuss how do the CLSC participate to the civil society? Although the 150 CLSC's network (Local Centres of Community Services) is a structure particular to Quebec, it would be interesting to say a little about the origins and the evolution of this institution, and discuss the phenomenon, surely not single, of integration of a civil innovation by the State.

To finish, and it is probably where I should have started, I will introduce myself. I have been a Community Organiser for 22 years in a CLSC of a popular district in Montreal (Quebec, Canada) which has a majority (95%) of French-speaking people. I was mostly doing interventions for the elders during the first ten years. I contributed to the creation of the Regroupement Québécois in Community Action in CLSC (RQIIAC) and of the Community Interaction Journal (you can consult several issues online (in french only) at http://clsc-chsld.qc.ca/comm/iac/Textes/derniern.htm ).

I am also Chairman for the organising committee of the Montreal International Conference on Community Development that will be held in June 2000.

So, welcome again everybody!

Let's discuss!

Gilles Beauchamp, gclscq@cam.org