Coherence
At the most obvious level, Coherence is embedded in the secular and sacred traditions of a community. It has a history that contains not only memories of separation and abuse, but also memories of collective action and recognition of shared contribution. Bellah and his colleagues (1985, p. 282) have more fully articulated this history of Coherence in community:
“. . . we have never been, and still are not, a collection of private individuals who, except for a conscious contract to create a minimal government, have nothing in common. Our lives make sense in a thousand ways, most of which we are unaware of because of traditions that are centuries, if not millennia, old. It is these traditions that help us to know that it does make a difference who we are and how we treat one another. Even the mass media, with their tendency to homogenize feelings and sensations, cannot entirely avoid transmitting such qualitative distinctions, in however muted a form.”
Building on the frame offered by Bellah, we offer both and secular and sacred vision of community and accompany these visions with a list of ingredients to be found in a coherent community. We begin with the secular vision and ingredients.
Secular Perspective: Fostering Civic Virtue and Finding Community Capital
The secular domain resides in the civic virtues of those residing in the community. This notion of civic virtue is incorporated in the term, Paideia, that Bellah references. Paideia is a vision of community that was first articulated in ancient Greece. As Bellah notes this vision refers to the socialization of children through education and the modeling of exemplary behavior, so that the children might become ideal members of their community (the Polis). In contemporary times, the domain of work seems to be critical in the engagement of civic virtue (Bellah et al., 1985 p. 288):
Undoubtedly, the satisfaction of work well done, indeed “the pursuit of excellence.” is a permanent and positive human motive. Where its reward is the approbation of one’s fellows more than the accumulation of great private wealth. it can contribute to what the founders of our republic called civic virtue. Indeed, in a revived social ecology, it would be a primary form of civic virtue.
I wish to extend this analysis regarding the social ecology of coherence and enhanced interpersonal relationships by suggesting three additional ingredients. A coherent community needs rocks, pebbles and sand.
Ron Kitchens and his associates (Kitchens, Gross and Smith, 2008) write about “community capital”—which I would suggest is needed in a community that encourages rich and productive interpersonal relationships. This capital comes from multiple sources—rocks, pebbles and sand. Community capital (represented as rocks) comes in part from institutions in a community that support broad based community participation and economic security for all members of the community. Kitchens proposes that there is a second source of capital in a coherent community.
Community capital is generated by the services and events being offered in this community. These are the pebbles. These services and events are inclusive and attractive to all members of the community if it is coherent. Regardless of their status in the workplace, all members of the community are invited to events occurring outside the workplace. One finds both the employers and employees at local concerts or at meetings of the city council. Lines might still exist, but they are easily crossed without repercussion. Community engagement should be just as democratic and broad-based as democracy inside the workplace.
