Liên Shutt’s Home Is Here: Practicing Antiracism with the Engaged Eightfold Path presents a transformative approach to understanding and addressing racism, rooted in Buddhist principles and the Eightfold Path. From the perspective of understanding-based conflict resolution, Shutt’s approach aligns remarkably well with the core values of deep listening, mutual understanding, and personal responsibility for creating change in the face of social conflict. Shutt offers a meditative and practical roadmap for fostering deeper connections between individuals and communities by merging spiritual practice with active antiracism.
The understanding-based approach to conflict resolution emphasizes that parties in conflict have the capacity and responsibility to understand the deeper causes of their issues and work collaboratively toward a solution. This principle resonates with Shutt’s work, as she highlights the importance of self-reflection, mindfulness, and compassionate action in antiracism. The book’s framing of the Engaged Eightfold Path as a guide to social justice mirrors the conflict resolution process, where individuals are encouraged to look beneath the surface of their positions and explore the underlying values and fears driving their actions.
In the understanding-based model, conflict is viewed as an opportunity for growth through dialogue and understanding rather than a problem to be “fixed” by external forces. Similarly, Shutt emphasizes that antiracism is not a simple series of actions but a deep, ongoing engagement with one’s biases and societal structures. Their use of Buddhist precepts, such as Right Understanding and Right Speech, encourages individuals to examine their roles in perpetuating inequality. This aligns with the conflict resolution model’s emphasis on self-awareness and responsibility for one’s contributions to the conflict. The shared focus on introspection as a foundation for external action highlights the compatibility between these frameworks.
Moreover, the book’s emphasis on community building through the Eightfold Path speaks directly to the understanding-based model’s principle of working together. Shutt argues that antiracism work is most effective in a community where individuals can learn from and support one another. This is analogous to the mediation process, where parties are encouraged to collaborate and engage directly to reach a mutual understanding rather than relying on a third party to dictate a solution. In both models, the process is as important as the outcome, with the goal to resolve specific conflicts and create lasting, systemic change.
The challenge of addressing racial injustice, as Shutt frames it, also ties into the understanding-based approach’s principle of “going under” the conflict to understand its deeper roots. Racial tensions often stem from historical, emotional, and systemic layers that require careful unpacking. Shutt’s invitation to approach antiracism with mindfulness and compassion offers a means of exploring these deeper layers, much as mediators encourage parties to delve into the underlying needs and fears that fuel their disputes.
Ultimately, Home Is Here provides a powerful model for integrating personal spiritual practice with the collective work of social justice, a vision that is deeply aligned with the understanding-based model of conflict resolution. Both approaches prioritize the process of understanding, dialogue, and collaboration as the most effective means of creating meaningful and enduring change in relationships and society.