Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: [C-L]_Consensus in cohousing

[Becky Schaller (bschaller]

I wrote this message on Monday and today is Wednesday and I haven't heard
anyone give a direct answer to my question.   So I'm interpreting that to
mean that no one who is a  member of an older community  (people living in
the community for five or more years) still use consensus for major
decisions.  

I asked that question because I'm wondering if consensus is an appropriate
means of making decisions for cohousing communities.   I agree it has some
sound and caring reasons behind it when placed in the right hands.

But it seems to me for consensus to work, people need to be commmitted to
the process and to learning about it.  In cohousing communities, people are
allowed to move in and out the process as they please. Others may encourage
them to enter the process for a particular decision at the beginning and
discourage them from entering in the middle or at the end.

I realized when I sent the message below that perhaps I was asking people to
answer a question which might be risky.   If someone says their community
doesn't use consensus any more, does that mean they are no longer a
cohousing community.  Does that mean they are telling everyone on this list
that their community found consensus too difficult or too cumbersome and
failed at consensus decision making?   Does this say something about their
community which they do not risk to disclose on a public listserv?

I also know there are many other reasons people may  not have responded.

I'm wanting to find a way to get this information without asking people to
tell about the difficulties of their community.   But I would like to find a
way to get the information somehow.  If, over the years, many communities
have chosen not to continue with consensus decision making (however you want
to define that term), I think that is a very important piece of information
for the cohousing community to have.

If anyone knows of a way to get this information or has already gathered it
in another way, would you please let me know.

Thanks,
Becky Schaller







 
> I've been thinking about consensus in cohousing communities and wondering if
> it really is the best form of decision making.   I think it is part of the
> definition of cohousing, but I still wonder.  What I see is sometimes large
> numbers of people coming together who probably don't have much background in
> consensus decision making.  They have varying degrees of time and
> commitment.   It's not uncommon for people to want decisions to be made in a
> timely manner.
> 
> I've also heard that for Quakers the faith component is a crucial part of
> consensus.  Cohousing does not have this.
> 
> We have thirty-six households; we're finishing up three years of living
> together; and we're still working on how to live by consensus.  Even simply
> working out the decision making process seems to take a lot of work.
> 
> So my question is, How does consensus decision making work in communities
> which have been in existence for some time?
> 
> If someone has been living in your community for five or more  years, would
> you be willing to say if you still make decisions by consensus at group
> meetings?   I realize there is a lot of ambiguity in this question, but
> please feel free to elaborate on your answer.  I'm not asking if you decide
> what kind of flowers to plant outside the common house by consensus, but do
> you have a consensed upon process for deciding how these smaller decisions
> get made.   Do you make major decisions by consensus  or have you consenses
> or evolved into making even major decisions in a different way.
> 
> I'd like to know how decision making within cohousing communities has
> evolved as people in the communities become more settled.
> 
> When you answer, would you also say how many households are in your
> community.  I'm wondering if the size of the community also has something to
> do with this.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> Becky Schaller
> Sonora Cohousing
> Tucson, Arizona


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