Social Action Is More Than Necessary Today

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In the middle of Rotterdam stands Ossip Zadkine’s sculpture, The Destroyed City, as a symbol of the faded center in World War II (Figure 1). It is a human figure from which the heart has been snatched, raising the hands to heaven with a cry of fear. On Sunday, after church, I play around the sculpture on an almost barren city plain while my parents watch. Within their memory the bombing of their company. My playground is their pain. Sunday church attendance is primarily a sacred event. Vatican II is turning things upside down in my hometown. Suddenly, the ecclesiastical dogma of the 1950s is replaced by a passionate social debate. The church must be at the center of society. Stand up for the oppressed. I am excited at that huge revolt. Here, I am fascinated by social change.I remember my first steps in social work in a neglected and underprivileged district of Rotterdam. It is the early 1970s; the neighborhood develops into a multicultural one of native residents, activist students, and first-generation immigrants. I get involved in supporting local residents against the demolition policy of the neighborhood by the city council. People do not want to leave their old houses; they want a toilet, and a shower. No rats in the house. They want to maintain the social cohesion, the beating heart of the district.I start my studies in social work, initially sociotechnologically oriented, but later Marxist–Leninist ideas increasingly take root. Again, I feel trapped in dogma. I oppose ideological ideas. Until I read Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Human experience as a starting point. Freire sees liberation as a collective matter based on dialogue. It becomes a source of inspiration in working with people in disadvantaged situations. I shake off my last dogmatic feathers.My introduction to Gestalt therapy is in the mid-1980s. The approach has a powerful effect on me. The attention to the (body) process is liberating. But I miss the orientation to social action. The Gestalt movement has become unilaterally focused on personal development.I happen to be involved in the founding of a local nongovernmental organization (NGO) in Northern Ghana. We work with local groups to reduce poverty by improving access to education, water, microcredit programs for women. The Gestalt principle of the dialogical relationship can be found here in the age-old tradition of local village communities: “I am because we are.”The 9/11 attacks in New York are again a turning point. In response to the attacks, the European Association of Gestalt Therapy (EAGT) establishes the Human Rights and Social Responsibility Committee. Here, I meet an international group of dedicated colleagues who want to reconnect with the sociopolitical roots of Gestalt therapy. All are active beyond the therapy room. We initiate a first committee project with Peace Brigades International (PBI). PBI sends volunteers to areas of the world where human rights are at stake. With their presence, PBI protects hundreds of organizations and individuals, their families, and communities. Our committee supports these human right defenders by online “human accompaniment” for any difficulties they encounter during their fieldwork. A volunteer writes: “I had violent panic attacks after being held hostage for 24 hours by an armed rebel group. The accompaniment has helped me to reconnect to my body, the team, and my fieldwork. It was essential to know that someone was taking care for me from a distance.”A modern city center has arisen around the “Destroyed City.” The sculpture is not only a permanent symbol of the atrocities of World War II but also a cry of horror at the dramatic events in the world today: the destruction of the earth and its democracies, the fate of refugees worldwide. Social action is more than necessary today.