The Think-Tank DoIT

Building upon the research work established and conducted since the 1990s in the CCD research group at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Örebro University, Sweden, the think tank DoIT (Delaktighet och inkludering [participation and inclusion]) was established in 2016. It moved to Jönköping University, Sweden in 2017, and has since 2023, been inspired by the work at different research environments at the School of Education and Communication at Jönköping University, DoIT organizes regular cross-sectorial seminars hosted by research groups at the School of Education and Communication in Jönköping, Örebro County Theater, Theater Martin Mutter, Fellingsbro People’s High School, Örebro Museum in Örebro and the National Theater in Hallunda, Stockholm.

Representatives from different societal sectors, such as theater and culture, civil society, police, politicians, local and national NGO’s, entrepreneurs, the Swedish Public Employment Service, Insurance Agency, researchers, etc participate in half or whole or multiple day workshops and events. These activities bring together the fields of practice and research together from across Sweden and also from international settings through thematized encounters where researchers, professionals and clients discuss contemporary issues.

DoIT attempts to formulate dilemmas and problems in communication, for instance, where different groups are involved, and jointly elaborate on practices that can cater for the participation and inclusion of everyone.

The DoIT activities aim to create dialogical/multilogical spaces that bring together and enable network creation, culture, research and practices from across different sectors. We meet in DoIT across different societal sectors with a common aim of learning from one another and in order to contribute to enriching one anothers work.

During its first two years of existence, the DoIT Think-Tank organized six whole-day meetings in Örebro, Jönköping and Hallunda. Since the spring of 2019, it has arranged one-two seminars/activities every semester either in Örebro or in Jönköping or in Stockholm. DoIT has also successfully experimented with international activities since the spring of 2019. For instance, a DoIT-day was organized in conjunction with CCD’s international conference MuDD 2019. In the spring of 2020 the DoIT-day has been conceptualized at the end of CCD’s international conference LeaDMe 2020 in Mumbai, India. And DoIT has collaborated with the Swedish Research Council’s project PAL, participation for all? final international conference GoPar - 2022. The conference brought together scholars, professionals and societal institutions from across Sweden, the Nordic countries, England and India.

Diversity as the norm – a third position

As the world around us changes we are, in nation-states like Sweden, trying to adjust to a society where diversity is itself recognized as the new norm. Such diversity is the established norm in other parts of the world. If diversity is normal, an acceptance of the composite person and societal complexity in general becomes an issue that needs to be discussed. This means that societal efforts regarding participation and inclusion in contemporary society need to recognize “everyone” as part of society, irrespective of the characteristics of people or groups. From such a point of departure efforts for women, for immigrants, for lesbians, for Sami, for deaf, or for other specific groups becomes problematic.

This also means, that there exists a need to move beyond the dichotomy framed discussions and organization of inclusion/integration/ mainstreaming on the one hand, and segregation from the majority group, on the other hand. Both solutions envisage the majority group in terms of a fixed norm. Instead, a third perspective raises questions regarding dominant norms themselves, allowing for the majority group to also evolve and change in parallel to shifts regarding opportunities for minority groups. Such a two-way integrational participation process constitutes a key dimension of the DoIT vision.

Another key societal aspect of the DoIT vision relates to the need for cross-sectorial dialogical/multilogical efforts. Within the DoIT Think-Tank, we jointly attempt to create conditions for new meeting places where social actors such as artists, representatives of businesses and the civil sector, local government representatives, institutions like schools, work agencies, health care, together with researchers focus upon questions regarding everyone´s participation and inclusion, rather than the participation of or for specific groups.

Historically, DoIT’s ambition can be traced back to the inter-sectional project DoT (Delaktighet och Teater; Participation and Theatre) (2012–2015), supported by, among others, The Swedish Arts Council. DoT ran under the auspices of (i) Örebro county theatre, and (ii) the research group CCD, Communication, Culture and Diversity at Örebro University. The project DoT was based on meetings (between people and sectors) as a fundamental strategy for change in societal arenas. Its explicit aim was to contribute to a more equal and democratic society in the 21st century. Through collaboration and exchange, and through research and documentation, DoT engaged the performing arts, the infrastructure of cultural politics and researchers in order to enrich different sectors in society.