2.3.2 The value of intergroup contact

Powers and Webster (2021) suggest that teaching young people about discrimination, patterns of inequity, group similarities and differences, and issues around power, privilege and disadvantage, to support civic engagement, can be achieved by positive intergroup contact, especially between people from different social groups and/or different racial and ethic backgrounds. They argue that more frequent and positive contact can lead to a reduction in prejudice and influence other outcomes, such as increasing cultural awareness and the ability to notice broader acts of injustice.

They also propose that intergroup contact can support the development of social capital – the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function effectively. Social capital will encompass the trust, norms, resources and reciprocity underpinning – and generated from – those social interactions, relationships and networks. Those with higher social trust and reciprocity generally assume people are good and are more likely to give, volunteer, participate in local affairs and be engaged in the future of a community (Bridger and Alter, 2006).

Powers and Webster explain that the perspectives and knowledge gained from learning about inequalities, encouraging positive intergroup contact and developing social capital ‘can influence civic attitudes toward social issues and social change, and in turn, these attitudes can influence civic behaviours and the willingness to act to improve one’s community’. It follows that such behaviours and dispositions have great relevance to addressing the climate crisis.

Next, you’ll look at one form of intergroup contact particularly suitable for addressing the climate crisis – intergenerational dialogue.