Reconciliation Laboratory

entry to a Guide to Restorative Justice in Bristol Booklet of 2012

Reconciliation Laboratory: a one-off or short series of facilitated listening circles modelling the power of non-violence, between people with different perspectives caught in city-wide conflicts or ‘fault-lines’. The facilitator emphasises listening over debate, speaking as ‘I’ over generalising. Particular outcomes vary but in g

eneral individuals experience being heard and come to empathise with others in the circle. Perceptions of what’s at stake may shift and go deeper. The event takes place mostly in front of the iconic contemporary art work in Saint Stephen’s, the Reconciliation Reredos. An example
From October 2011 to March 2012 the ‘Rec Lab’ looked for ‘Wisdom After The Riots’ of April and August 2011. We aimed to have young people involved, police force, politicians, residents, shopkeepers, squatters, i.e. a range of stakeholders with a view to healing the trauma visited upon the neighbourhoods. The facilitator-investigator talked to residents, shopkeepers, squatters, police and others endeavouring to get wide representation at two Rec Labs, which he facilitated. One at Saint Stephen’s focussed on the stories, the other at The Arts House Café on the next steps. Later meetings finished off action points agreed at the second Rec Lab. Whilst police and anarchists didn’t show, local councillors, residents, a ‘cultural consumer’, shopkeepers and a friend of a squatter-travellers did. In the cafe a riot-convicted squatter came, just released from jail. One outcome was specific questions for the police relating to the raid of the Telepathic Heights’ squat and the first ‘Tesco’ riots. These questions were tabled and answered (to an extent) by the police at an Ashley Forum Meeting in the spring. More than that, in the facilitator’s opinion, the process allowed different perspectives to be heard: a pro-police shopkeeper heard the harrowing tale of a police-dog mauling. An owner-occupier began to pay attention to the point of view of squatter-travellers. A complex picture of some of the causes and hidden factors at play were uncovered. The two residents who stuck with the process to the end were pleased with it and felt it took them somewhere.