Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Blocking consensus

[Alicia George (ajgeorge]

From: "Robert P. Arjet" <rarjet [at] LearnLink.Emory.Edu>

> I object to "Blocking," because it almost always gets thought of as a 
> veto--"If I
> don't like the proposal, I can just block it." Another way to think of the 
> very same
> situation is as a group that has almost reached consensus on a topic.  It's 
> not about
> one person voicing objection and killing the proposal at the last minute, 
> it's about
> the group's responsibility to craft a proposal that earns the consent of every
> member.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. Using the term "blocking" enables people to 
continue
to think in terms of voting and the idea of exercising their power against 
others.

An alternative way to think about this is to "withhold consent." This makes it 
more
clear that the dialogue can continue until a better proposal is developed. And 
it
leaves open the option for the group to declare that consensus is blocked, if 
the group
agrees that the concern of the member withholding consent is based on the 
community's
values and mission.

Alicia George
Takoma Village, Washington, D.C.
ajgeorge [at] earthlink.net
http://www.takomavillage.org

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