Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Power structures in group process

[Tree Bressen (tree]

Rob wrote:
>I think a huge mistake that cohousing groups make, particularly in the
>development process, is letting new people, who have no history, and no
>training or experience in group process, have  veto power over the group.

Many groups that use consensus choose to put some screens in place to help
address this problem.  For example, no blocking power for 6 months or until
you've attended a certain number of meetings in general or on that topic or
until you've taken a consensus training workshop.  While cohousing
communities have particular requirements arising from their legal and
financial structures and the pressures of the development process, i
imagine some protection of this type would still be possible.  The
newcomers' input can still be welcomed, it's just an extra security in case
something goes awry, given that, as Rob said, most of us are taught to be
fairly self-centered about our interests and it takes time to unlearn that.


I notice that after lurking for several months on this list i seem to have
suddenly become a very active participant!  So i thought maybe i should
introduce myself a bit.  My name is Tree Bressen, and i live at Walnut St.
Co-op in Eugene, Oregon.  From 1994-99 i lived at Acorn, an income-sharing
commune in rural Virginia that was a spin-off group from its famous
neighbor, Twin Oaks (a '60s commune that is still going strong after more
than 30 years).  

I have never lived in cohousing and don't know that i ever will, but joined
this list to stay in contact with what's happening in the movement.  I've
been dedicated to supporting community living for over a decade now, and
the surge in cohousing communities is certainly one of the most exciting
things i've seen.  I do a lot of work with two communities movement
organizations, the Fellowship for Intentional Community (FIC is the group
that publishes the big Communities Directory and Communities magazine and
runs the www.ic.org website) and the Federation of Egalitarian Communities
(FEC is an association of 15 intentional communities with common principles
such as income-sharing, non-violence, and ecological sustainability).  

Group process is a central passion in my life.  I give workshops on
consensus, facilitation, conflict resolution, and related skills to
intentional communities and other organizations (non-profits, political
activists, schools, worker co-ops, etc.).  I'd like to say that overall
i've been very impressed with the level of savvy and sensitivity that folks
on this list have offered in response to the various questions that arise
on these and other topics.  It's neat to see people being thoughtful and
sharing support--thank you!

Cheers,

--Tree


-----------------------------------------------

Tree Bressen
1680 Walnut St.
Eugene, OR 97403
(541) 484-1156
tree [at] ic.org
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