Theory and Practice: Taking a Communication Perspective in Ramla, Israel

Early Spring, 2012.  A private residence in Ramla, Israel.  Twenty participants representing disparate identities engaged in a conversation of the issues facing their town.  The environment is relaxed but the discourse is passionate.  The conversation evolves as each participant is offered the chance to speak, and the current subject is prospects for social mobility embedded within the context of mandatory military service in Israel.  We hear multiplenarratives from myriadperspectives.  An eloquent young woman fresh out of military service offers her experience of discrimination and dashed dreams in the Israeli Defense Forces.   It seems two strikes are against her:  She is from Ramla, and she is an Ethiopian Jew.

Another participant listens then offers an alternative narrative of her experience with the IDF, as an officer who did not discriminate against Ethiopians.  As this discussion continues I am observing the other participants in the room including an Arab Muslim from Ramla and consider what the IDF represents to her in this diverse town in central Israel.  All participants have a chance to speak over the next few hours and a portrait of Ramla emerges that is as complex and diverse as the identity groups represented in the space: economic and social stratification, civic pride despite stigmatization, religious tension, and tempered optimism for the future.  I note the similarities to a host of other cities in the world that face comparable challenges despite not having the additional baggage of unstable regional politics.

The Cosmopolis 2045 team from Columbia arrived in Ramla, Israel April 17, 2012 for its second site visit and to continue the implementation of a Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) project in a field context.  The actors in the room represented a rich network of community activists ostensibly dedicated to creating a better social world in Ramla, and one of our primary activities in the coming weeks will be to map this environment to identify key partners and better understand the conflict dynamics operating in the Ramla system.  As the conversation came to a close that second evening the Columbia team had a better understanding of the task ahead and the participants were encouraged to envision next steps collaboratively.  My attention turns to the role of networks in the success of our CMM engagement, including identifying brokers within the many identity groups (Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Russian, Bukharan, Cochin, and Ethiopian Jews, and Arab Muslims and Christians) and designing for sustainability.

A primary goal of this multi-year engagement is aiding citizens of Ramla in taking a communication perspective when addressing the challenges that are sure to arise in the future. The lessons gathered here will benefit the Cosmopolis 2045 community through the development of online scenarios and simulations incorporating Ramla and other conflict environments.  As our initiative progresses we will learn from our partners and better understand the context-specific elements that make Ramla a unique laboratory for social science and practice.

Contributed by Mark Whitlock