The more civity-oriented a culture, the more likely laws and policies will be responsive to the needs of all the people the law binds.
Current law generally does not disrupt systemic injustices such as racism and economic inequality. Because these injustices are systemic, transforming the relationships that embody and perpetuate them is essential work. Civity’s distinctive purpose is nurturing “power-with” relationships across differences saturated with “power-over” dynamics.
Explore the connections between civity, justice, and law, in these articles by Civity Co-Founder and Research Director Palma Joy Strand. Civity offers an affirmative vision for moving toward equity and justice.
Racism 4.0, Civity, and Re-constitution
“The conversations, storytelling, and relationship-building that counter racism build civity, which enables collaboration, creativity and resilience.”
This Is the House That Law Built: A Systems Story of Racism
“Civity offers an interconnectedness that is based on interactions that recognize people’s shared humanity, that we are all members of the communities that we live in, that we all belong, that there is no hierarchy of human value. If civity is our systems story…then the purpose of our system is not to create advantage and disadvantage. Rather, the purpose is solidarity; the purpose is justice.”
American Dreamin’: Law’s Limitations and the Promise of Civity
“The relational infrastructure of civity makes possible the civic infrastructure of mediating groups and organizations that enable a virtuous cycle of inclusive democracy – and a ‘rule of law’ that applies to everyone.”