Is inclusion all that it's cracked up to be?
One of the many aims attributed to the processes of Community Cultural Development work is the ability for projects and programs to assist individuals, groups and communities to develop skills that assist in building social inclusion. But what about those individuals who want to participate in projects but don’t want to engage in the process of social inclusion? What happens to those participants who have experienced years of social exclusion and find the notions of social inclusion to be abhorrent? What happens when cliques and exclusive groups form within projects where social inclusion is considered paramount – how do we then facilitate social inclusion? What happens when the behaviour of some participants make it almost impossible for others to want to engage in processes of social inclusion with them?
Using a series of case studies, stories and anecdotes, Rebecca Lister from the Artful Dodgers Studios, Gateway, Jesuit Social Services will attempt to address the above questions based on the examination of Social Inclusion and its desirability.
Rebecca Lister has worked for the last 20 years in the community cultural development sector and the professional theatre industry. She works as a playwright, director, dramaturge, project manager, arts organiser and teacher. She has worked as a professional artist in Queensland, Victoria and the Northern Territory and was a co-founding member of the Queensland Community Arts Company - ‘Feral Arts’. She was also a co-founding member of the small independent professional theatre company ‘Salamander Theatre’ based in regional Victoria.