By Dan W. Osborne -
As discussed in our last blog post “Should We Each Take Responsibility for Social Harmony”, Project Jambo believes that we all have a vested interest in trying to create a tolerant, inclusive and peaceful society. Fortunately, research shows that one of the best ways to progress towards this goal is by connecting with new people from various backgrounds and with various viewpoints and that can be really fun!
Of course, so often today we see polarisation and division in society and even at times amongst close friends and family members. While differences of opinion and viewpoints is something that is usually healthy, it’s when people become so entrenched in their own thinking that some very negative emotions can affect important relationships.
It starts to become dangerous when extremist groups target those who feel isolated or not understood or heard.
So what do we mean by “extremist groups”? There is no agreed definition of what constitutes violent extremism. The Australian Government describes it as follows:
Violent extremism is the beliefs and actions of people who support or use violence to achieve ideological, religious or political goals. All forms of violent extremism seek change through fear and intimidation rather than through peaceful means. If a person or group decides that fear, terror and violence are justified to achieve ideological, political or social change, and then acts accordingly, this is violent extremism.
While there are many routes to extremism, one common pathway for an individual is shown below and is the particular one that Project Jambo is trying to obstruct.
So does that mean that Project Jambo believes that all socially isolated people or those with unconventional views become radicalised and embrace extremism?
Absolutely not! An analogy is the path to lung cancer. So stage one is the social or occasional smoker, stage two would be the regular or heavy smoker and stage three are those who contract lung cancer. But the important point is: not all lung cancer patients have smoked, not all regular smokers get lung cancer and not all casual smokers become regular smokers. However I think we can all agree that for some people, becoming an occasional smoker eventually leads them down a path to lung cancer.
Helping people avoid the path toward extremism is similar and is an effort we should all consider making for our own social peace and stability. We can do this by not rejecting but instead engaging with those with unconventional or conflicting views and by reaching out to those who may be socially marginalised. Many of our activities are designed to help you do just that. It can be emotionally rewarding and takes minimal time and effort.
Project Jambo does not place itself anywhere on the political spectrum and is not against any particular groups or individuals. Our mission is: To teach the skills needed to have courageous conversations with those with different views to improve relationships and promote social harmony.