Co-existers
7. Massively Parallel Roles & Tasks
Coexisters articulate a forward-looking democratic vision based on constructive competition balanced with a pluralistic spirit of tolerance and mutual respect. As we described above, the South Africans who followed Rasool's seven steps were coexisters. Examples of people doing this work include Mari Fitzduff who recognized the critical importance of this aspect of peacebuilding when she chose to call her new program at Brandeis University, the Coexistence Initiative2; the New Pluralists, the Liberal Patriot, and John Inazu. All of these people and programs are trying to imagine a society in which disparate groups can live together in peace. The Aspen Institute and Civity are trying to cultivate an overarching American identity that can bind the country together despite its still unresolved inequities and rapidly changing demographics. The United Nations also updated its Agenda for Peace — the document that coined the word "peacebuilding." Francis Fukuyama highlights the advantages of liberal democracy's strategy for allowing people to live together in peace and freedom, explaining why it is better than the alternatives called for by democracy's critics. Suzette Brooks Masters is telling us why it is important to look at democracy's successes as well as its shortcomings. Still others are looking at the humanistic beliefs upon which coexistence is based and the ultimate test of any system of governance — its ability to produce human happiness.
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