The preposition makes all the difference

Sharing power and engaging marginalized communities is crucial for successful program implementation and real impact. However, we sometimes are frustrated with our inability to get community members from historically underserved and disenfranchised communities to participate in public hearings, community forums, etc. We then have to take a step back and acknowledge a lack of trust from these communities towards institutions such as government, healthcare, housing, education and others. 

Inequities experienced by marginalized groups are not an accident, but rather are rooted in a history of discriminatory decision making at the institutional level that has deliberately excluded certain groups including:

• Members of the LGBTQ community
• Women
• Racial, ethnic, and linguistic minorities
• People with disabilities
• Indigenous peoples
• People from remote geographic locations

The exclusion of these and other groups have led to persistently high levels of unemployment, inequality and poverty; lack of access to high-quality public education; and an overall lack of community investment. In other words, the mistrust that we experience when trying to engage underserved communities is a natural reaction to the way these communities have historically been treated. When people feel they’re blocked from opportunities because of their gender, race, age, ethnic or religious group, disability, or other reasons, it’s hard to expect them to trust the institutions they feel have marginalized them.

In their 2002 book, A New Weave of Power, People and Politics, Lisa VeneKlasen and Valerie Miller highlighted the importance of considering how to positively use power when developing community engagement strategies. They broke power down into four different types and illustrated that power can be used in positive or negative ways. 

Power over is how power is most commonly understood and has historically been used to oppress certain groups. This type of power is built on force, coercion, and control.

Power with is shared power that grows out of collaboration and relationships. It is built on respect, mutual support, and collaborative decision making. Rather than domination and control, power with leads to collective action and the ability to act together.

Power to is about being able to act, develop skills and capacities, and realize that one can affect change.

Power within is related to a sense of self-worth and self-knowledge; it includes an ability to recognize and appreciate differences. Power within allows people to recognize their “power to” and “power with” and understand they can make a difference.

The expressions of positive power encourage us to think about power as something that can be utilized to build trust with community and pursue opportunities for positive change. In working with communities, we want to nurture “power with”, “power to” and “power within”, and avoid operating from a position of “power-over”. When it comes to building more trustful relationships with marginalized communities, the preposition makes all the difference.