The Rise of the Relativists
CONFERENCE EXCERPT
by Valerie Braithwaite
Zadok Perspectives Issue No. 62
Spring/Summer 1998/1999

Introduction

Beyond the left/right divide on values

Valerie Braithwaite
Valerie Braithwaite is a researcher at the Research School of Social Science at the Australian National University. This is an edited version of her response to Veronica Brady's address, "Australian Spirituality: the role of values and faith in the body politic", given at Zadok's 1998 Biennial Conference.

I DON'T WANT TO DISAGREE with Veronica Brady. In fact, I agree with her completely. What I want to do is to use the work I do as a social scientist to suggest ways in which we can bring Veronica's hopes to fruition. The study of values is important in that it bridges many groups in society. By 'value' I mean principles that apply in any situation at any time, such as being honest, courageous, compassionate. There are a limited number of values such as these that enjoy wide consensus in the community and which are also found across communities. An interesting feature of these values is that we not only believe in them ourselves but we believe that others believe in them. In other words: values are a bond that exists between all of us. They gives us shared meaning, understanding and hope-in that none of us lives up to our values.

The values I'm describing group around two major constellations. The first represents a 'harmony value' orientation; the second, a 'security value'. One can think of these as ethical systems that guide our social interactions and the goals we are aiming for.

The harmony values system is the one that resonates with the caring community Veronica urges us to reinvigorate. It encompasses things like greater economic equality, equal opportunity, human dignity, international cooperation, social progress and preserving the natural environment. Now these are social values but there's a counterpart in the personal value domain, such as inner harmony, wisdom, a sense of understanding ourselves and others.

In contrast to these we have the 'security value' system which is concerned with how we carve up the material and social resources, things such as national economic development, national greatness and security, personal safety; things like social recognition, economic prosperity, being ambitious, being successful, being competitive.

Now traditionally, people relate the 'harmony' and the 'security value' system as representing the left and right sides of politics-and in doing so get caught up in an assumption that while one goes up the other goes down. However, the values system of 'security' and 'harmony' are independent of each other. While we tinker with one we are not necessarily doing something to the other. So when we talk about social policy we have to keep an eye on both things.

Now, in politics these value systems are often adversarial-we have to choose one or the other. When we vote we are not given the choice of what we like about the conservatives and what we like about the liberals. After all, what they seem to be doing all the time is pitting themselves against each other and we just have to choose. But the people who are actually involved in the rooms of Parliament House trying to negotiate policies know better than any of us that they are compromising all the time and are trying to find win-win solutions, trying to find ways of preserving security and preserving harmony.

Contrary to popular perceptions, 'harmony values' are alive and well in the community at the individual level. In the 20 years I have been studying these values, I've found 'harmony values' are as strong now as they were when I started. So what has gone wrong? Are people only articulating these values or is something else happening?

Though this is somewhat speculative at this stage, what appears to have happened is our institutions of politics, in some sense schools and certainly in the work-place, these sorts of institutions have forgotten to speak to our harmony values. Let me mention some examples of places where we have used this model to try to analyse what is going wrong and where we are trying to bring about change.

To: Part 2