Ayşe Yorgancıoğlu, PhD
At SES Association, we place great importance on strengthening social dialogue and creating constructive spaces for interaction across our differences. In this context, we have been collaborating with Civity—a U.S.-based civil society initiative—for three online “train-the-trainer” sessions over the past few months. This collaboration, aimed at reducing polarization and fostering empathetic communication equipped us with practical tools while giving us the opportunity to rethink the role of dialogue and mutual understanding in social transformation.
Civity was founded in 2013 by Malka Ranjana Kopell and Palma Joy Strand, with a focus on helping individuals and institutions build more constructive relationships across differences. It does so through practical tools and trainings. At its core, the Civity approach encourages people to engage with those who hold different views and embrace different identities in a more open, curious, and non-judgmental way. In many ways, it reminds us of something simple but difficult in practice: instead of withdrawing or becoming defensive, we need to stay engaged, listen, and try to understand. In today’s increasingly polarized global climate, this is becoming less of a choice and more of a fundamental social capacity that we need to work on.
Looking at Turkey, polarization has widened the distance between different viewpoints, gradually creating sharp boundaries between what we often refer to as “neighbourhoods.” As contact between different social groups decreases, prejudices deepen and spaces for dialogue shrink, and this is a reality we are all familiar with. In this context, the Civity approach offers a way to improve interpersonal communication and a means to rebuild bridges across these divides.
But the issue is not limited to political polarization. The growing socio-economic pressures of the capitalist system is just as significant. As the burden placed on individuals by the system increases, people struggle to find a sense of grounding. This is an erosion of trust—both in society and in others—and a deepening of isolation. At the same time, people’s sense of belonging and confidence in the institutions (companies, public institutions, schools, civil society organizations, etc.) is also weakening. All of this quietly but profoundly erodes the social fabric.
This becomes particularly visible when we look at women’s experiences in the workplace. Research conducted by SES Association and FutureBright shows that around 70% of white-collar women believe that gender equality does not exist in working life. The issue starts as early as the recruitment process: three out of four women report being asked questions about their private lives at that stage. Three quarters of women also believe that the system is designed for men, and that they have to put more effort than their male counterparts in the same positions. Meanwhile, 40% think that having children is an obstacle to their careers. Most strikingly, one in four women reports being forced to resign from their previous job. These findings clearly point to a systemic issue—one that permeates all stages of working life. Beyond deepening the inequalities, it significantly damages individuals’ trust in and sense of belonging to the institutions they work for. From a gender perspective, this erosion of trust and growing alienation become even more visible and urgent.
At this point, the Civity approach offers more than a framework for dialogue across differences. It also has the potential to contribute to rebuilding trust between individuals and strengthening their relationship with the institutions they identify with. In contexts where trust is weakened and social bonds are decaying, such approaches can help re-establish connections at both the interpersonal and institutional levels.
The values underpinning SES Association—equality, solidarity, and active citizenship—inherently align with Civity’s dialogue-based approach. For us, equality is not just the end goal, it is a process that requires thinking, producing, and existing together across our differences. We believe that gender equality and social peace can only be achieved through open and trust-based dialogue among different segments of the society. And we invite you to join us in this journey.
(You also can read Civity’s article on its collaboration with the SES Association here.)