Participants of the Common Room event in Cardiff in July 2024 gained new insight into how the far right work from workshop facilitator Gareth Harris.
Tracey Brown from Rubicon Dance said that:
Hearing from someone with the knowledge, experience and view points that Gareth has – a training like no other I have done before in terms of the subject matter. It was incredibly useful and important to hear and see different perspectives.
The aims of the session were to
- get an overview of anti-minority action in the UK particularly Wales
- share our knowledge and experience of responding to anti-minority extremism
- hear practical examples on how to deal with anti-minority organisations
- explore ideas for how we can take action in our communities to be protected against extremism and reduce our vulnerability
Gareth explained the importance of Narratives:
- A narrative is a story that sets an event(s) into a meaningful context
- An interpretation of the world from a specific perspective
- How persuasive a narrative is, is supported by the credibility of who is telling it and …
- Rests on pre-existing knowledge/lived experience and the wider context
- People/narratives compete for credibility
- Extremists use narratives to support their views of the world & gain support
People shared their knowledge and experience of responding to anti-minority extremism in the Cardiff area and what works to counter this.
We watched a film of a community meeting which involved people expressing genuine grievances, attributing blame to people seeking asylum and migrants.
We broke into groups to discuss a scenario, with five questions:
- What are the risks?
- Underlying grievances? – How do you know and how do we address them?
- Agencies/ orgs/ individuals to talk to
- What would be your messaging?
- Practical steps? Who should take them?
Thirty two people took part in the Common Room session, sharing ideas about what makes a narrative credible and the effects of anti minority action, how to find out underlying grievances in communities and how to build trust to give people confidence that they are being heard.
What did people get from the Common Room?
People left with a sense of connection to others working to counter hate and felt strongly that they were likely to use the knowledge gained from this session in their work.
Laura from More In Common Llantwit Major found it was:
A useful, well considered and timely session with real examples. It was a practical informative session which helped clarify actions to take and most importantly what to look out for regarding fake posts intended to divide.
What did we learn?
- Communities which have systemically been “left behind”, lack investment and engagement in democratic processes and those which experience trauma are targetted by anti-minority groups. The key to building the strength of local communities to resist anti-minority groups is to listen and build trust and respond effectively to their genuine concerns.
- We have to work with the legitimate grievances that people have, not lecture people or overwhelm them with facts/ stats. We need to listen to people and respond to show we have heard them and how we are going to act on their concerns. This depends on honesty and engagement with the community for the long term. Politicians and public organisations need to work with the community. This is critical to counter feelings of being done to, and powerless. It’s also important to have trusted messengers to share credible narratives.
- An in-person Common Room event connected people, increased their knowledge, strengthened collaboration and boosted membership of the local More In Common Partnership. People at the event shared resources with each other after the event to support local action.
Shockingly, within a week of the event, a series of violent protests took place around the country, instigated by some of the anti-minority groups which Gareth informed us of. This involved people who were expressing their concerns about their communities such as poverty, violence against women and lack of resources. It reinforced our learning and the need for more opportunities to have conversations about building trust and bridging divides in communities.
Join the Cardiff Together More In Common Partnership
You are invited to join the Cardiff Together More In Common Partnership. For information contact Nick and Adam at [email protected]
What’s next?
In 2025 we are holding series 5 of the Common Room programme in Cardiff, Nottingham and Stoke on Trent, and one online, between March and June, working with Gareth Harris for some of them. These events will be by invite only, to keep the spaces safe and focussed. However we are always keen to speak with potential collaborators, so if you would like more information or to arrange a chat please email [email protected].
We are planning our More In Common In Action conference in Manchester in May, an opportunity for More In Common Groups and Partnerships and interested individuals to share learning and ideas for action. Please sign up to the More In Common Newsletter at the bottom of this page if you would like to know what’s coming up.