Banner image: "Need for Hope" by Joey Guidone.
"Bridging is a salve for our fractured world. We can overcome the illusion of separateness by honoring our differences, transcending the notion that difference divides us, and instead co-create a world where everyone belongs."
- john a. powell
We at OBI believe in the power of bridging. Bridging is one of the critical steps toward reducing othering and promoting belonging. Bridging is a particular form of social capital which describes connections that link people across a cleavage that typically divides society (such as race, or class, or religion). Bridging is a practice where members of different social groups are not only brought into contact, but build social connections and rapport. Thus bridging activities can be as simple as an interfaith dinner or a multicultural concert or as complex and institutionally embedded as a leadership training program or an experiential course on cultural differences.
The heart of bridging is listening to and learning from and about the person perceived as different or even as “the other.” Listening means hearing their story, not to confirm their facts or perspective, but to affirm their humanity. Listening is sometimes confused with agreement, although the former does not require the latter. The simple act of being heard has a powerful impact on both the speaker and the listener. Active and empathetic listening is perceived and felt as a form of caring and regard, and it builds trust.
The emphasis in bridging practice is centering stories and narratives rather than facts and data. The goal is not to arrive at “truth,” but rather to better understand how another group sees itself and express what is important to it. Thus the groups do not necessarily have to agree on a set of facts, but they should strive to better understand each other’s perspective. They should seek to recognize the identity of the group they are bridging with, even if they dispute the claims that accompany that identity narrative. We can acknowledge each other’s humanity even in our disagreement.
Read more about bridging in this excerpt from Belonging without Othering: How We Save Ourselves and the World by john a. powell and Stephen Menendian. Also, reads excerpts from The Power of Bridging: How To Build A World Where We All Belong, by john a. powell.
And learn more about Belonging on our Places of Belonging program page.
