Creating Community does NOT equal Social Equity

so·cial

of or pertaining to human society, especially as a body divided into classes according to status: social rank.

eq·ui·ty

the quality of being fair or impartial; fairness; impartiality:the equity of Solomon. Synonyms: disinterest, equitableness,impartiality, fair-mindedness, fairness, justness,evenhandedness, objectivity; justice, probity. Antonyms:bias, discrimination, inequity, injustice, partiality,partisanship, prejudice, unfairness, unreasonableness;injustice.

com·mu·ni·ty

a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharingcommon characteristics or interests and perceived orperceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the largersociety within which it exists (usually preceded by the  ): thebusiness community; the community of scholars.

I remember not too long ago sitting around at a staff meeting with my boss and talking about our office values, goals, etc. We are a community based architecture firm on Capitol Hill. A lot of our conversation focused around our connections to our neighborhood. How we, as designers, wanted to created spaces that foster and encouraged community. We wanted to create community that was open to all and full of diversity. As a quick exercise my boss asked each team member to talk about what community meant to them. The answers were as you might expect; support, trust, shared values, shared proximity, shared goals, shared history, etc. She pointed out after we all shared that community and creating community does not equal social equity. Creating community was about finding people that often had shared values and social equity was about making space for everyone within a community.

Let’s take a moment here for a quick history lesson. Social equity is a newer word in the sustainable vernacularly and is popularly defined as equal opportunity for all in a safe and healthy environment. It has gained popularity after the President's Council on Sustainable Development, in 1996, defined Social Equity as "equal opportunity, in a safe and healthy environment" in their report.  Today it is considered vital third element in the three legged stool of the sustainability.

So if a community is people with shared histories, things in common, a family, or a group of friend then it is clear that just by creating community we are not ensuring all human beings social equity.

Creating community can foster social equity but there needs to be awareness and intention to allow all human beings to participate in the new community. I think we as future leaders in the new sustainable economy need to be aware of our own mental models of community as we strive for social equity with in our communities. I believe social equity can be at odds with our personal ideas of community. Community by its definition is about creating an ‘us’ and ‘them’ which is the opposite of a club that everyone can belong to. Before I go too far let me be clear there is absolutely nothing wrong with creating communities based on common histories, shared values, geographic location, etc., we just can’t call that creating social equity. A truly social equitable community would not be comprised of all like mined individuals or individuals who have shared histories.  In the end a truly socially equitable community would likely take many of us out of our comfort zone and challenge our mental models of community. It would be the community of the globe.

I think as individuals and as a society we need to be aware the communities we create and the barriers we place on who is allowed into them. Again, I don’t think we must always have socially equitable communities at every level of our life or at every level of society.  What we need is that every individual and every discrete community has the same social opportunity to have expression in our society.  

I realize this is a long rant for what some might consider not a big issues but I challenge you to listen to the how ‘social equity’ and ‘creating community’ are often used interchangeably. They are not interchangeable.

Oh, and how the heck does this relate to economics you ask.. well let me tell you! Fostering both communities and social equality (and understanding the difference) for individuals, groups, and communities to express themselves will develop positive human capital. Empowered expressive people are no longer liabilities but rather assets to society. They contribute to society as equals making the whole system stronger.

“Social Equity is the cornerstone of Social Capital, which cannot be maintained for a few at the expense of the many.” (wikipeda.com)