About inclusiveness

Inclusiveness seems to be a hype. But what is actually happening with inclusiveness? When I include you and your values and your world, this means that your system and my system are becoming more one. You are part of my system, and in case you include me, I become part of your system.

Sometimes we are confronted with a situation where a participant cannot join. For example because he or she doesn’t speak the language of our program. Or because the participant is not allowed to travel to the country where we have our seminar. Or we are not allowed to trade with the country of the participant. Or even because we can’t guarantee physical safety.

Then we have to say: ‘No, it’s not possible’ to a participant who wants to join.

Are we excluding that participant then? Some people say ‘Yes, you are excluding’. We say: ‘No, we are not excluding’.

Deeper then including or excluding is acknowledging.

When we speak with a participant, in eye-contact, and tell or share: ‘It’s not possible now’, then we acknowledge the participant and his or her, ánd our context.

When I acknowledge you, this means: ‘You are part of my world and part of my system’. Even if you don’t or can’t belong now.

And when I acknowledge a participant from a country my country is at war with, I implicitly also acknowledge both countries.

You can’t acknowledge a person without acknowledging her or his country, including the fate of that country. Acknowledging something does not mean that you have to like it.

For us, saying to a participant: ‘You cannot come to that program’, is for me a deep way of acknowledging. Acknowledging the person, the context and the country. And by acknowledging this way, they all are part of my system. Not just the person.

Acknowledging goes deeper then our wishes and desires. Acknowledging is deeply accepting what is. Wishes, desires and hopes are more connected to what is not. Acknowledging makes it possible to say ‘no’, to set boundaries where they are adding strength.

What if we would shift the concept of inclusiveness into the concept of acknowledgement?

Radical acknowledgment?

~ Jan Jacob

Andrate, Italy
July 22 2024