Understanding misunderstandings, putting an end to harassments, building agreements

Written by Sandro Calvani

In this beginning of third decade of third millennium we’re living into, societies’ inclusive thrive in every of their aspects (economical, cultural, social and political) is based off the coexistence of two vital energies: the cooperation among different realities and their conflict.

We know everyone has the same rights and has to have the same opportunities. But this principle society are based on didn’t come up by itself, it was built carefully. The more a society is complex, the more its foundations have to be strong. Many observe in an intellectually honest way that we’re living inside these “established buildings”, we’re not responsible for their structure and we surely can’t strengthen old foundations, even if they’re weak. We raise our hands, we surrender against injustice threatens that seem to come from poor or badly applied laws, unqualified national and international governance about common goods, laissez-faire by companies, this all added results into a self-pitiful, lazy “I’m sorry, but what can I do?”

For this reason social conflicts grow in power and endanger all the cooperative connections in society. We’re forced to strengthen fundamental structures in the surrounding society, since they are what they are.

We should realise that among conflict studies, the gender ones, concerning any linked form of violence, are usually the more problematic. But this conflict is also the one more in need of attention, because, if not resolved, it may slow or stop many societies’ full freedom and their growth towards an inclusive thriving.

This theme also concerns unresolved conflicts that touches some more intimate themes, some open wounds, some obscure corners in our communities. If we can recognise them, we should also be responsible and able to work together to fill society’s cracks.

One of the most effective actions taken concerning this subject is the ILO Convention on the riddance of violence and harassment at work, implemented in June 2019 and ratified in Italy on 12th January 2021. ILO is the first international organisation that deals with international cooperation, started decades before the UN, because governments, companies and labor unions have always known that work is the democracy’s strongest weapon, and it lies in people’s hands.

Convention’s suggestions can be viewed as a simple yet complete manual, to start and fight in one of the most intense conflicts of the modern word and becoming protagonists of a clever solution. This time we can’t say that the government doesn’t allow us to take an active part, actually we all are called to do it. To make even men and women rights at work, we have to avoid splitting our shared aims, and engage into learning what causes misunderstandings and inequality, finally, we have to repair divisions and prepare new agreements and everyday practices. 

Freely adapted from: Valerio Capraro and Sandro Calvani, La scienza dei conflitti sociali (The science behind social conflicts), Franco Angeli editions, 2020.