By Maggie Murray, Alicia Furtado, Becki Charles, & Graham Herrick
Published in December 2011
This spring, The Working Centre hosted four Wilfrid Laurier University students from Alex Latta’s fourth-year Global Studies course “Engaging with the City”. The students volunteered 20 hours at different Working Centre projects and wrote a concise summary of the challenges of building community in a society that is becoming increasingly privatized.
In the contemporary world, through the process of globalization, society has been dominated by Western ideals of neoliberalism including individualism, privatization, and capitalism. Community development organizations generally attempt to treat the root of the problem. The Working Centre realizes that there is a larger process at work and aims to address this through looking at the structures in place and restoring community values through social solidarity. Volunteering with The Working Centre allows community members to generate a better affiliation with society and structures within it.
Community privatization is present within everyday ‘public’ structures which separate society based on class and privilege. This can be seen within Canada by the daily degradation of low income individuals. Examples of this can be seen in the purchasing of goods and the level of access to services including transportation and technology. This degradation and lack of services that bring the community together not only creates further alienation between the various sectors of society but in addition, fails to provide people in need of help with any services to actively participate within society and build up confidence in their own abilities. The lack of services can be seen through the decay of community values, and a strengthened emphasis on individual values. This shift in focus has led to the social exclusion of the lower classes and the lack of services and continued degradation of their humanity has led to a cyclical pattern in which their situation is perpetuated. All of this has led to a constant divide in society in which class often dictates one’s access to services and privileges. The separation of class and privilege can be seen throughout the world through the creation of privatized gated communities, made to divide the upper and lower class.
The Working Centre is an effective organization that breaks down the barriers that are constructed around class and status. By doing this, it allows for community values to be reinserted into society and provides for a socially inclusive place. Values such as support are seen through all aspects of the centre. Supporting people in job search, skill building, and access to food and healthcare are some of the ways The Working Centre addresses this. It bridges the gap that society has created and acts as a supportive structure rather than one that continually divides society. The Queen Street Commons Cafe is a prime example of how The Working Centre creates an inclusive and truly public environment. It is a unique complex setting where a variety of community interactions are brought together. At any given time, the Queen Street Commons Cafe is a meeting place, an entertainment hub, a place for social programs, and allows for people to gain job skills through volunteering.
The Working Centre strives to be a place where the segregation in privatized areas of community no longer exist. With a stronger emphasis on community building and values, The Working Centre opens up the boundaries between community members and approaches community without the presence of social hierarchy, both within those who work there along with those who use the facilities. There is no criteria required in order to use and access the services offered, such as the St. John’s Kitchen. These necessary services are free to the public at large and are seen as a more inclusive community engagement tool. Through such tools the current trend towards privatization is being challenged. The Working Centre provides people with the opportunity to better themselves through their own understanding. Rather then dictating to people what their problems are, The Working Centre offers people the opportunity to take part in productive work and allows people to gain confidence in their own abilities. Along with providing people with actual workplace experience, it also allows for social interaction and provides people with the space to be active members of the community.
As society has built up these barriers, The Working Centre has subsequently worked to challenge these structures and foster community development and space. Through volunteering and participating within the various areas of the Centre, we can witness how The Working Centre’s approach to community development makes public space accessible and inclusive to everyone.
