In a way, it is quite appropriate that this year Holy Week falls during the campaign for local elections. The buzz one that is usually associated with an election campaign matches the one that is generated in the run-up to Good Friday and Easter Sunday, timely reminders that our communities are still alive, brimming with ideas and grass-roots initiative.

This contrasts sharply with various attempts in the past to write off the conviviality of Maltese community life. Whether motivated by an aggressive secularism (the events concerned tend to be religious, to some extent) or genuine concern at its decline, the effects of contemporary family and working culture were seen as directing our energies elsewhere, leaving our towns and villages as little more than ‘dormitory communities’ – the places to which we go to sleep off lives lived elsewhere.

Easter

While there has been an evident general decline in the sense of ‘the local’ in the last few decades, the activities surrounding Easter have shown a strong resilience to this change. Indeed, these community celebrations have become bigger and more elaborate over the years and it is safe to assume that they are a form of ‘reaction formation’ to a world that is ever more globalised and diverse. It becomes a way of marking out our distinctiveness to the rest of the world.

It is therefore not surprising that, unlike the celebrations marking Christmas for example, Easter celebrations in Malta have broadly retained an unequivocal Maltese aspect and identity: from the food associated with this season, the processions, the dramatisation of the days leading to the crucifixion and the decorations in our streets and the windows of our houses to the exhibitions of miniature statues and the Passover meal. Whether we consider ourselves religious or not, they say a lot about us and about who we are.

Social capital

There has been a great deal of academic writing on the subject of social capital. Stated simply, the theory is that social relationships and networks have value. In the case of Easter festivities, there is certainly a materialistic value there, most evident in the interest shown by the travel and tourism sector as an authentic experience Malta can offer to visiting foreigners.

There is, however, a less tangible benefit to this form of capital as it enhances our life experience in many ways. The sense of fellowship, working towards a common goal, goodwill and social solidarity adds to a sense of well-being and social satisfaction that material goods often fail to provide. The number of volunteer hours, for example, that go into organising and running a Good Friday procession give not only a sense of purpose to those offering their time but also those who benefit from it – even if in a passive way as spectators.

Social capital is also beneficial for a sense of participation and governance. Even when participants are volunteers, participation still requires the definition (to varying degrees of clarity) of “ground rules”, of how decisions are reached and conflicts resolved, of responsibilities and rights and of administrative tasks – including the sensitive task of budgeting. There you have all the elements for associative democracy. Even if in a non-material sense, as a result of social capital we are all so much richer.

Local councils

This, inevitably, brings me to the subject of local councils. Although it may not be very evident, there is a connection between what goes on in our towns and villages around the Easter period and what happens during the run-up to elections for our local councillors. They both tap into an underlying sense of community spirit. That may sadly be diminishing, but it’s certainly still there, still productive and still bringing benefits that we all enjoy as residents.

We ought to cherish the work and effort that go into making these Easter festivities (and other community rituals and celebrations) what they are just as we should be appreciative of the good work local councillors do. The immediate surroundings of our homes are a major contributor to the quality of life we enjoy – or should enjoy. It is an issue that is too important, too close to home, to be ignored or trivialised.