Principles of Social
Transformation
Some unorganized thoughts about the process of social
transformation.
The world today is in the midst of a planetary crisis. This
is a historical transition from one stage of social evolution to the next, in
which fundamental change is needed in all areas of society. Paradoxically, this
crisis was brought about by the successes of the current stage of social
evolution, especially those that have increased dramatically the power of our
technology and the size of our population.
The current crisis is related to a dissociation between
what I call ground qualities (natural living, participant consciousness,
community, and equality) and emergent qualities of (technology, reflexive
consciousness, and social structure); the emergent qualities have suppressed the
ground qualities. To move to the next stage of social evolution, we need to
reclaim the ground qualities and integrate them with the emergent qualities.
In this crisis, it is not in the interests of the
current ruling class to maintain the status quo, even though many of them may
think so. It is everyone’s interests to transform society and resolve the
crisis. Otherwise the consequences will be severe for almost everyone (though of
course, not the same for all). Therefore we don’t have to fight them but just
help them to see their own best interest.
Since fundamental change is needed, social change
activities must go far beyond traditional political activism.
A spectrum of social change activities are needed,
including confrontation of destructive policies, personal growth, public
education, community organizing, reform, creating alternative institutions and
technologies, and much more. It is important to appreciate what others are doing
even if it is very different from what you believe is most important.
While it is valuable to fight against the worst abuses of
our current society, social transformation requires that we be proactive in
creating bits and pieces of the new society, in our personal, activist, and
professional lives.
Cooperation, dialogue, and participation from everyone are
probably the most effective means of achieving social transformation in
today’s world. Therefore creating social structures that involve these is an
important social change activity.
Small, personal changes can contribute to large-scale
social transformation. On the other hand, some social change work (whether
personal or large scale) only ameliorates current suffering and does not help to
make fundamental change. It is important to distinguish work that really leads
toward social transformation, even if in small ways, so we can put our
priorities there.
It is not enough to convince other people of the need for
social transformation. Even with the right values and priorities, we don’t yet
know enough to create a healthy society in a world of 6 billion people. Despite
all we do know about what is needed, we must also continue to experiment with
creating healthy alternatives that truly work.
One way to foster social transformation is to create
healthy alternatives to the current society—in consciousness, social
structures, or technology. These should be tried out with other social change
agents and continually improved in actual application in our lives. Then they
can be promoted to others. They should especially be made available for people
to use or participate in when they are having difficulties and need solutions.
That is when most people are open to new ways of doing things.
Particularly when a personal or societal crisis happens, we
should be ready to offer these alternatives as a solution to the crisis or its
personal ramifications. The alternatives will be more effective than status quo
solutions, and people are more likely to embrace them in their time of need.
A social movement that is spiritually based has the best
chance of being effective and successful. By this I mean one that is informed by
love, inclusiveness, compassion, interconnectedness, humility, and deeper
meaning.
To build a healthy society we need change at both the
personal and societal levels. Without personal growth, we won’t have enough
citizens who have the consciousness required to co-create a healthy society.
However, some of our social structures, especially our current global corporate
economy, are not only destructive to our society but also tend to constrain our
consciousness and drive it into certain narrow ways. Therefore we need to work
for change at all levels simultaneously.
When confronted with people or institutions that are
contributing to the destructive activities of our current society, it is helpful
to look for ways to engage them synergistically rather than trying to fight
them. We can try to understand the world from their point of view rather than
dismissing them as bad; it helps if we recognize the part of us that is like
them, in thought or feeling if not action. We can look for ways to work with
them on projects that they perceive as in their interests but also promote
social transformation. With some creativity, these are not as hard to find as
you might think. We can find ways to dialogue with them that may open them up to
seeing more of what is really going on in society, and may also open us up to
seeing something new as well. Perhaps we can find a way to see them as
opportunities or resources rather than problems.
It isn’t helpful to worry about what chance we have to
turn things around before it is too late to avoid environmental or other
destruction. Rather than an attitude of optimism (which might be unfounded and
naïve) or one of pessimism (which destroys good energy), it is more useful to
have an attitude of hope, where we envision the society we want to build and
work for that.
Too many progressive organizations have been rendered less
than effective by internal power struggles, unresolved personal conflicts, and
poor understanding of organizational process. We must take the time and energy
to pay attention to our process and work through problems.
Joanna Macy’s categories of social action:
The current way of doing something isn’t working, and
when this becomes apparent to enough people, alternatives will be sought and
taken seriously. This can happen in any area—social structure, technology, or
consciousness. This is especially likely to occur in a crisis. People may choose
an alternative simply because it offers a better way for them personally or for
their business, or they may also realize that it is necessary for societal
reasons.
Change is most likely to start with a small group of people
doing something in a new way, and then gradually spread to other groups and then
hopefully to the whole society. This usually happens through a social movement,
though the movement may not be explicitly related to social change. Examples are
holistic health, simple living, civil rights, environmental movement, feminism,
personal growth. How do these small groups succeed? How does the innovation
spread? What tends to block this from happening? How does current society try to
protect the status quo?
Another means of change is that a new technology is adopted
because we now how the technical ability and it confers obvious advantage. Or a
new social structure develops because of the evolution of technology and social
conditions. The new technology or social structure has many unintended and
unforeseen side effects for good and ill. These can promote or impede social
transformation. Examples are TV, the internet, globalization.
Cultural Attitudes
Material Practices
Social Structure
Work on waking up from the cultural trance.
We tend to see the world through the viewpoint of our society, even those
of us who are critical of it. We need to learn to see these conditioned ways of
understanding reality and our choices about how to live, so that we can make
choices that will better serve the creation of a healthy society.
Work on integrating ground and emergent qualities in your
life. Don’t throw out your intellect as you develop your emotions, intuition,
and spiritual life. Don’t throw out technology in connecting to the earth.
Organization is as important as spontaneity. Don’t throw out the positive
aspects of our current society even though it must change radically. There are
many advantages to a market economy even though our current one needs drastic
alterations.
Make your personal life an expression of your political and
spiritual views. Notice the ways that our society makes it difficult to do this.
Engage with others to help support you in this.
You can make the most useful contribution to social
transformation if it comes from a deep sense of life purpose. Pursue what you
are most passionate about and work where your greatest talent is. Look for
guidance from spirit.
Work with others, in groups, pairs, or organizations.
Network and collaborate. Share your struggles, ideas, hopes, dreams, and fears
with others. Bring up and work through difficulties with interpersonal and group
process.
Work on yourself psychologically and spiritually and bring
the fruits of this growth to your social change work. It is not so much what you
do or what you know that makes you effective in the world but who you are.
Engage in connecting with nature and recognizing our interconnectedness with all of life.
Engage in social change activities that are personally
satisfying and enriching and build community in your life, as well as
contributing to the world.
Break down the artificial compartments we often have
between personal and political, political and spiritual, personal and
professional, theory and action, friendship and work relationships, and so on.