Future Positive | social change

Politics and polarization

By Mike On February 17, 2021 · Add Comment

In these times of political conflict and deep-rooted polarization it may seem fanciful to talk of politics as community-building, but unless we find new ways of building consensus we won’t be able to tackle the biggest issues we face. What would such a politics look like? Here are some recent articles that explore that question: What does it mean to clean up politics? If all we do is fight, we won’t be able to forge coalitions that are broad, deep and strong enough to confront our biggest problems. The beauty of a both/and mind How can we find [...]

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Spirituality

By Mike On February 17, 2021 · Add Comment

I’ve always believed that personal and political transformation go together – that there will be no revolution ‘out there’ without radical changes in our own behavior, and vice-versa. How do religion and spirituality fit into this equation? Here are some recent pieces that may help to answer that question: The road beyond McMindfulness What can we learn from 22 articles on mindfulness and social change? Can mindfulness help us in the midst of COVID-19 – and beyond? If we connect our contemplative practices with social realities we can fashion a healthier present and a better future. The [...]

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Freedom, friction and the future of knowledge for social change

By Mike On February 27, 2014 · Add Comment

How can knowledge play a more useful role in the struggle for social justice? Late last year, the Coady International Institute in Canada asked me to address this question in a talk delivered during a conference organized with the International Development Research Center. The talk was filmed by Coady and a couple of local TV stations, and streamed online. Here’s the Youtube version:

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“Love 2.0:” a conversation with Barbara Fredrickson

By Mike On January 27, 2014 · Add Comment

Is there any scientific basis for believing that love can be a force for change in politics and economics? An interview with one of the world’s leading authorities on positive psychology and the value of “micro-moments of connection.” Can love be a positive force for change in the public sphere as well as in our private lives? If not, Transformation is in trouble: openDemocracy’s new section has staked its future on demonstrating that radical changes are possible in politics and economics when approached in a spirit of human connection and solidarity. Read more…

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Welcome to Transformation

By Mike On July 4, 2013 · Add Comment

Can fusing personal and social change radically transform our societies? We say yes. Michael Edwards introduces openDemocracy’s new section: Transformation. On a winter’s night in 1955, a young preacher named Martin Luther King climbed into the pulpit of the Holt Street Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Once there, he delivered a speech to a packed crowd of close to five thousand people that would eventually lead to his own assassination, but breathe new life into the struggle to transform America and the world. Read more…

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NGOs, Social Change and the Transformation of Human Relationships: A 21st-Century Civic Agenda

By Mike On January 22, 1999 · Add Comment

This was an early attempt by me and Indian economist Gita Sen to outline why issues of personal change had to be factored into the pursuit of social justice. A revised version was later published in Third World Quarterly, 2000. NGOs, Social Change and the Transformation of Human Relationships: A 21st-Century Civic Agenda. Michael Edwards and Gita Sen Introduction. Changes in the distribution of power and authority are characteristic of the processes we call globalisation (Edwards 1999). The erosion of state sovereignty and the weakening of workers’ rights are two obvious examples, but globalising capitalism also re-shapes relations between women [...]

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