Stages of Change MSC has identified five steps in this process of cultural change: • Individual change • Leads to change in the organizational community • Leads to change in the organizing model and practice • Leads to greater social impact and systems change Culminating in deep cultural change.
Where Are We Stuck? 1. Operating from a Sense of Urgency — Crisis Mode “Everything is critical, nothing can wait,” explained Jen Soriano, formerly with the Center for Media Justice. “There is a sense of urgency and anxiety about missed opportunities. This makes everything much more high stakes.” “People wear themselves out by just reacting, writing papers, attending meetings. They do a lot without making much occur, except to create outcomes for foundations,” says Norma Wong of The Institute for Zen Studies. 2. Embodying the Dominant Culture “We all hate on each other at some level.” — Jermaine Ashley, Oakland Kids First. 3. Recycling Trauma “We need to rehumanize each other,” said [Mordecai] Ettinger. “This requires a value shift on the Left.” Many of us come into this work because we, or the people we love, have experienced deep injustice. However, if our wounds have not healed, trauma can severely limit our ability to be present with each other. Without awareness, we recycle trauma and create new wounds within the movement. 4. Attachment to Anger and Struggle Our movement culture uses struggle as a word to define itself. We are always struggling against something. The term itself connotes hardship and extreme exertion. While this definitely describes a portion of our work in this movement, it is not and should not be the entirety of it.
framing deep change: essays on transformative social change
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