LET'S EXTEND THE CLAN

Solidarity within the community is important to organizing and is essential to communal caring and inclusion in the circle of life. As Richard Rorty says: “the telling of stories which alter our self-understandings so that we come to see ourselves as sharing a common predicament with strangers” (Festenstein, 2003. p. 131). I believe that this is what we, as social workers, do. We listen to others telling of their experiences and their stories. And, we share ours with them. It is a matter of communication and interest. But, this common interest may be difficult to find and embrace. This may be hard and challenging for me to accomplish, but I think that it is essential in social work. If we are to get to know individuals, as well as the communities they live in, we will be tested and tried for a period of time before we are “accepted” by the individuals. When that time comes that we become part of the individual’s, or community’s, conscience, we will know that we have arrived. We will share with that community a sense of “empathy and compassion” as Rorty (2003, p. 131) says. In an idealistic sense, Rawls (1971), a political philosopher explains, that we have to get outside of ourselves in order to help people. Another thing that we, as social workers, must do is be authentic. Members of the community or individuals who we work with are not ‘stupid.’ They will be able to size us up in no time. If we want to create a bond with them we must be real and not phony.