In many of the gatherings I find myself in, I’ve noticed how difficult it can be to talk openly about values. There often seems to be a kind of shyness — a hesitancy to name convictions, to speak of beliefs, or to use language that might be interpreted as ideological. That word, “ideology”, is uncomfortable for many of us, and understandably so.
In a world where absolute truths have rightly been questioned, and where grand narratives can easily exclude, it can feel uneasy, even presumptuous, to declare a clear set of values. We’ve seen how moral certainty can be misused. I have my own doubts as to whether there can be any objective morality or any ideology that can fit in every setting or circumstance, but I still believe it is important to understand our deepest layer of values on which we can build our lives and build society in most conceivable scenarios.
But what are they? Personally, I come back to inclusion, belonging, shared agency, and interdependence. When I go through the process of peeling back the layers of what we do these are the foundations that inform why we do it. In a postmodern world each of those concepts already carries a lot of baggage. There is also a very thin line between subscribing to an ideology, such as inclusion, and prosletysing a guidebook for that ideology in imperialist ways that contradict the founding premise.
Meanwhile, the far right are not afraid to speak in stark, direct terms: “might is right”, “survival of the fittest”, “suppress the weak”. Their ideology of division and domination is chilling in its clarity, which might be why it appears to be strangely effective. When the far right shocks us with phrases like “we just don’t want anyone from these 12 countries,” we react in horror and even take to the streets, but we hold back from providing an ideological or even ethical premise behind our rejection.
The instinct to avoid reductionist or moralising claims comes from a good place — a desire to hold complexity and to make room for pluralism. But when we can’t, or won’t, express a clear alternative vision — or a set of foundational values — it becomes harder to respond to those who speak with blunt conviction, even when their messages are harmful. Without this hesitance the far right are running away with the narrative.
Since we are shy to name values systems and ideologies should we instead be aligning with movements that capture inclusive values while being expressed in more culturally appropriate language? Ubuntu in southern Africa, Harambee in Kenya, Pemaknaan in Indonesia come to mind, as well as the core values underlying Black Lives Matter. Are there other movements out there now that are bringing these cultures and concepts to life boldly in confrontation to the ideologies of divisions and domination?
We don’t need manifestos. We don’t need research studies and we don’t need focus groups to ascertain what people believe. It’s not that complicated. I’m sure the majority of us on the planet believe in a fair society in which the marginalised are included not just in terms of equity but also in terms of rights and agency – if that wasn’t the case we wouldn’t have got this far and made it to a population of over 8 billion people. But perhaps what we do need is a bit more confidence — the confidence that it is possible to hold values without becoming dogmatic and prescriptive, and the confidence to articulate the values of our shared humanity.
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