OPINIONISTA: Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater – social cohesion can be a powerful force for good

on 6 August 2019, Steven Friedman stated “and yet we need ‘cohesion’ about as much we do a military coup – and for much the same reasons. It is a deeply undemocratic idea that gives a licence to the powerful to dominate others.”

In essence, South Africa is geared to change, yet we find it extremely difficult in our fractious society to come together to achieve this change.

Social cohesion need not be a top-down concept, but can also emerge from the base of ordinary people who are tired of conflict and violence, tired of corruption and lack of care. Where are the opportunities then for us to come together and find some consensus – or are we doomed to fail? Can over-thinking paralyse us as we seek evidence of conspiracies, power grabs and agendas of domination, or can we find concrete ways to connect, talk and find common ground? For those who are bound forever in a racial paradigm, what is the end-game? Are we forever bound by our ways of thinking, too scared or too embarrassed to reach across the divides to be seen to be talking to the...

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