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Recognizing Power Imbalances in Decision Making

4.7 Collaborative Discussions with Sovi Herring

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Community

What does community mean for you?
What communities do you feel a part of?
Write a few thoughts down or draw your answer.

Does your community control your voice? Does your voice change in different contexts?

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The Game

The group will be given a context to have a conversation about.
Everyone will be given a person to act as and a limited amount of times they can speak.
One dot = one thought / response
Clarifying questions do not count against you
Participants should not reveal how many DOTS they have.
At the end of a round (discussion), the group has to;

wager which participant had the least AND most power in the discussion
elaborate why they had less power than others

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The Game

Your roles for each color will not be the same.

Keep to the roles given, but you may add additional aspects to your life

Some prompts will specify how many times you can talk about a particular topic.

These topics consider age, class and profession. It does not take into account race or ethnicity—though those can be factors to consider.

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BLUE CARD

I’ll read the prompt
You’re all in a town hall to discuss the ramifications
Use your BLUE writing for your token count
Introduce your characters before discussion begins

Whitewater rafting has emerged as a popular outdoor recreation. It has also become a significant tourist attraction in rural areas that have been unsuccessful in attracting more conventional forms of economic development. Whitewater rafting has spawned an entrepreneurial economy, as small groups of local residents have set up their own rafting and river guide companies as well as other businesses that cater to the needs of tourists. However, these companies are not regulated. The tour guides have varied levels of expertise and the equipment is not regulated. The other businesses have mixed levels of success as many are not familiar with the needs or expectations of tourists.

As the whitewater rafting industry grew, so did the interests of larger outdoor sports and tourists companies. When these companies tried to buy out the local entrepreneurs, they often met resistance. Many outdoor sports enthusiasts favored local enterprises and assumed all safety measures were in place and met best practice standards. They tended to rely on public reviews when selecting a rafting company or related business. Large, corporate companies were finding it hard to break into the local market.

To put pressure on the small local rafting companies, the large corporations started lobbying state legislatures to enact regulations regarding the safety and environmental impact of the industry. While the regulations seemed to be well intentioned, they would be difficult for small local companies to meet—unless those companies became part of a bigger company.

In discussions of the proposed regulations, supporters highlighted how they would improve public safety. Opponents pointed out the regulations would likely shut down local entrepreneurial economies. Most small rafting companies would not survive on their own. If they went out of business or were acquired by larger corporations, what would be the broader impacts on local communities and local economies?

�What IF...Scenarios - Google Docs

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BLUE OUTCOME

If they went out of business or were acquired by larger corporations, what would be the broader impacts on local communities and local economies?

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GREEN CARD

I’ll read the prompt
You’re all at Georgia’s reading of the will to discuss
3 members are secret voting members on whether to challenge her wishes
Use your GREEN writing for your token count
Introduce your characters before discussion begins

Lost Art

�Georgia Mancuso was an incredible artist. Her paintings captured the essence of the lives of Italian immigrants as they came to America in the early twentieth century. In effect, her paintings were of both artistic and historical merit in their depictions of Italian-American heritage. There was, however, a problem. Very few people had ever seen Georgia’s paintings.

Georgia was a very private person who never wanted to be in the public spotlight. Her works of art were on display in her home, but only her family and close friends had ever seen them. Despite urgings from everyone in her family, Georgia would not allow her work to be made public. Museums and historical societies got wind of her work and approached the family with numerous purchase offers. Georgia rebuffed them all. In fact, she was so annoyed by the pressure from her family. She mandated in her will that all of her art would be destroyed upon her death.

Discussion Questions

1. Suppose you were in a position to decide the fate of Georgia’s art after her death. How would you weigh the different factors influencing your decision—and what would your decision be?

2. What public obligations might artists have, if any?

3. When we think of art or other cultural works, under what conditions might concern for the public good outweigh the rights of the property holder?

�

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GREEN OUTCOME

Should the family go against Georgia’s wishes?

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PURPLE CARD

I’ll read the prompt
You’re all in a Parent-Teacher Association meeting to discuss possibilities
Use your PURPLE writing for your token count
Introduce your characters before discussion begins

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PURPLE OUTCOME

Is the event a good idea to pursue?

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Activity Debrief

What impact, if any, did the number of contributions/power have on the discussion outcome?
Which stakeholders held more or less power? Does this seem accurate to you? How would you represent their power?
What would it look like for power to be more fairly distributed within discussions and society?