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Rituals practised over time become traditions, which are the basis
for the formation of a subculture. Through my observations I have come
to the conclusion that my community is following this path.
“Rituals are very important elements in anyone’s life, it used to be
that religion defined ritual and that created community, now hopefully
we can take hold of ritual and say we’re defining it.” 1
In my cross cultural comparison these shared experiences seem to extend
no further than public holidays and calendar date celebrations. Resident
Deb Leon confirms, “We might have a barbeque or a Sunday morning breakfast
once a year with our next-door neighbours usually at Christmas.” 2
This issue of neighbourhood disconnection has not gone unnoticed by the
government. In fact key legislators have been debating the need for more
community based organisations and initiatives as a way of bringing neighbours
back towards an “inclusive and civil society” .3
Peter Shergold has had twenty years experience as a public servant,
working for four Prime Ministers and eight ministers on matters like the
Public Service Act and the Workplace Relations Act .4
According to him, “valuable initiatives can lose many of their
potential benefits by being put through conventional governance aims and
processes.”5 He asserts that “essentially bureaucracies
find it hard to think local.”6 To entice people
to participate in joint experiences, Australian society and key legislators
in particular must overcome “...a lack of imagination, insufficient courage
and too great an abundance of caution.”7 He encourages
the government to embrace:
“...the idea of joint responsibility for public policy...that is the
opportunity for those outside the formal structures of governance (individual
citizens, community groups) to help design and deliver publicly funded
programs and services.” 8
Cheryl Kernot, former leader of the Australian Democrats and member
of the ALP, a renowned academic on social enterprise, believes the answer
lies in the emergence of “social entrepreneurs”.9
She describes them as individuals who work to actively create a community
in an urban environment with minimal to zero government assistance10.
These people seek out potential members and found institutions and organisations
run by the people that meet a communal need. In urban neighbourhoods,
institutions like local childcare facilities, ethnic clubs, sports teams
and religion classes all help to educate and cultivate individuals by
sharing a common wealth of social and cultural knowledge to all members.
Kernot argues that in a society where ethnic ghettos, deceitful digital
communication and single parent households are becoming the norm we are
in need of these social pioneers. As Kernot remarks “We are surrounded
by the orthodoxy of risk aversion, but social entrepreneurs challenge
orthodoxies, take risks and persevere.”11 They make
us recognise that the only barrier between us and others in our street
is concrete, steel and our own over-exaggerated fear of the unknown.
ENDNOTES
1. Interview-Brian Keogh, loc. cit.
2. Interview-Deb Leon conducted 15/4/09, at the interviewee’s house in
a suburb in the Warringah area
3. Shergold, P. “Been there, done that, still waiting for more”, Griffith
Review: Participation Society, 24, 4, June, 2009, p 142
4. Shergold, P, ibid
5. ibid, p
6. ibid, p 150
7. Shergold, P loc. cit. p 143
8. Shergold, P. ibid p 145
9. Kernot, C. “A quiet revolution”, The Griffith Review: Participation
Society, 24, 4, June, 2009, p 13
10.ibid
11.Kernot, C. loc. cit. p 17
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