Participation — it seems to be a simple enough concept — “the action or state of taking part in something” according to the American Heritage Dictionary. Yet history would tell a different tale that’s not so simple. While the actual word has remained constant, two “p’s,” two “a’s,” three “i’s,” two “t’s,” and some “r” “o” and “n” action thrown in to boot, the meaning behind these letters has gone on a rollercoaster ride over the years in the United States.
Going back to the founding of the Republic that is the United States of America, this nation was formed due to the people’s participation in the revolution, which meant breaking away from Europe. Some took part by fighting in battles, others printed messages, a few signed the Declaration of Independence; you get the point. Or, skipping ahead a few centuries, in the 1950s, participation was mostly associated with group membership in organizations like the Elk’s Club. In the ’60s and ’70s, many young people defined their “taking part” as a protest movement for social change.
Regardless of how participation was valued, it always seemed to be an integral part of the American society. In his commentary on the United States in 1835, philosopher and writer Alex de Tocqueville commented, “Americans of all ages, all stations in life, and all types of disposition are forever forming associations … of a thousand different types — religious, moral, serious, futile, very general and very limited, immensely large and very minute … At the head of any new undertaking, where in France you would find the government or in England some territorial magnate, in the United States you are sure to find an association.”
In the last decade or so, with people becoming more and more engrossed in individual pursuits — spending more hours at work, running the kids here or there, or watching television after a hard day — participation assumed yet another identity, that of a simplified and less time-consuming form. What is the new popularized norm of participation? Here’s a clue to help figure it out.
“Hi, my name is Joe with Blank Organization. We’re working on a blob campaign. The best way for you to help us out tonight is to give us a monetary donation of X amount of dollars. Congratulations, you’ve just become the newest member of Blank Organization.” Indeed, writing a check has become the “taking part” that defines participation while actually doing physical things to improve one’s community has been almost completely nixed from the equation.
Recently, many people — probably most famously Robert Putnam in his “Bowling Alone” writings — have asserted a claim that this new meaning of participation has created an apathy in society and community, and in turn, civic engagement. In the past this participation and formation of associations seemed to embody the very essence of civic engagement to stimulate American democracy. Now this participation seems to reflect the disconnection from community involvement and is marked by a decided lack of civic participation and low voter turnout.
Hold the phone, however. The latest election manifested as a shift from a lack of civic engagement to a new, invigorated form of democratic participation. In fact, now America seems to be on the cusp of redefining what participation will mean in the next few years.
Yet even as America appears to be on the brink of another possible “participation” shift, the campaign trail that tirelessly vilified the enemy candidate and ennobled their own candidate also left citizens starkly divided by a large rift of two extremely different camps. The masses of people have continued to hold onto the differences the candidates accentuated, so that each group utterly fails to understand the other perspective while they both argue past each other. What had been differences between candidates have now become differences bisecting the common people. With this separation so apparent, the common ground that serves to unify and reconnect communities is forgotten, and so maybe is a part of a sustained shift in greater societal participation.
Here on campus, however, an organization called Wisconsin Union Directorate Alternative Breaks has been focusing on the common ground of the similarities and needs among people — a refreshing “alternative” to the feelings of insurmountable differences echoing from the political campaign. By developing service learning trips that allow UW students to travel all over the country for winter, spring and summer breaks, the organization reconnects UW students to community problems and embodies a uniting form of participation that really “takes part” in improving communities.
For this winter break, the organization has planned seven (one to two week) trips in different locations throughout the country, open to all UW students. The trips are as follows: Boston, MA, working with homelessness; the Florida Everglades, performing conservation work; New York City, assisting international refugees with English and better understanding American culture; Phoenix, AZ, working with Teach for America; San Juan, TX, assisting a Mexican migrant social justice organization with a variety of different pursuits; Arizona Saguaro National Forest, building a part of a hiking trail from Utah to Mexico; and New Orleans, doing a host of community service activities. Moreover, not only do these trips allow students to see America from a new connected perspective, they all only cost between $90 and $250 for most expenses. For more information, check the web, and applications are due November 16.
Kate Flick ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in sociology and serves as a member of alternative breaks.
