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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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Preface to Civil Society by Michael Edwards (4th edition, 2020).

By Mike On February 17, 2021 · Add Comment
Economic, cultural and political developments over the last five years do not bode well for the theory and practice of civil society. In most parts of the world, communities are increasingly divided and fragmented. Violence, intolerance and inequality are on the rise. Authoritarians and populists of different stripes have gained a foothold even in advanced democracies. Restrictions on freedom of speech and association are increasingly common. Trust in charities has declined as a result of well-publicized recent scandals. And public spheres—privatized, commercialized, hollowed out and distorted by ‘filter bubbles’ on social media and accusations of ‘fake news’—seem thoroughly incapable of [...]
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Civil Society

By Mike On February 17, 2021 · Add Comment
I’m fascinated by the idea of civil society – the conviction that voluntary, collective action can build a better world. But it’s a complex idea that’s heavily contested and increasingly under threat. Here are some recent articles that investigate civil society’s promise, perils and potential: Where is civil society when you need it? While cultures of protest are strong, other parts of civil society are getting weaker, with calamitous results. Let’s get real about the transformation of society: can you email me directions? Following activists on twitter is easier than following them to jail, but why can’t we [...]
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NGOs

By Mike On February 17, 2021 · Add Comment
I spent a large portion of my career in international development charities like Oxfam and Save the Children, but their work and structure have been heavily criticized. Do they have a future? Is there a role for NGOs in the transformation of society? In the last five years we’ve published 30 articles on NGOs and social change. What do they reveal? Don’t shoot the messenger The Charity Commission report on Save the Children vindicates the whistleblowers, but wider lessons must be learned. Could NGOs flourish in a future without foreign aid? Only when myths about NGOs and [...]
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Philanthropy

By Mike On February 16, 2021 · Add Comment
What’s the best way of generating resources for nonprofits, NGOs, social movements and community groups who want to promote radical changes in society? Can the big foundations be reformed or transformed, or is it better to build a different system that’s more open, equal and democratic? Here are some recent pieces that explore these questions in my own writing: What can we learn from thirty articles on philanthropy and social change? Reforming today’s institutions won’t be enough to support the transformations of the future. Forget billionaires: let’s build our own system to fund the transformation of society How [...]
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The mysticism of wide open eyes

By Mike On May 26, 2017 · Add Comment
Three months before his death from pancreatic cancer in 1994, the British playwright Dennis Potter was interviewed for the BBC by broadcaster Melvyn Bragg. In obvious pain and taking regular swigs from a bottle of liquid morphine, Potter explored a wide range of questions about his work, politics, family and feelings—given that he was already in the terminal stage of his illness. I was spellbound by the raw honesty and energy of his answers, but there was one section that catapulted me into a different state entirely. It came when Potter described the plum tree blossom outside his [...]
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Who wants to live in a frictionless world?

By Mike On May 26, 2017 · Add Comment
Does it matter that Micah Johnson was killed by a robot, albeit one controlled by human hands? Johnson shot five police officers during a demonstration in Dallas, Texas, on July 7 2016. Twenty-four hours later he was blown apart by explosives maneuvered into position by a robot-controlled device that was normally used for bomb-disposal, after a gun battle and the break-down of negotiations with police. According to the Washington Post, the action was “widely praised as an innovative way to eliminate a threat without risking more officers’ lives.” This form of “violence by proxy” is already [...]
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Should funding agencies also share in the sacrifice of social change?

By Mike On May 26, 2017 · Add Comment
Every day of every year, in places like Standing Rock and Ferguson and Aleppo and Hong Kong, tens of thousands of people put their lives and livelihoods on the line in the struggle for human rights. If they are paid at all the amounts are very low and the risks are often high, so shared sacrifice is demanded from everyone involved. Opportunities for personal gain are subordinated to solidarity with colleagues and the cause in order to knit together a strong social fabric. Consistency between words and actions is essential in building mutual loyalty and trust. Faced by these imperatives, [...]
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The privilege of being privileged

By Mike On May 26, 2017 · 1 Comment
It takes a special sort of chutzpah, as we say in New York, to deliver a homily on privilege from the summit of the Ford Foundation. So kudos to Ford’s President Darren Walker who has done just this in his latest annual letter. “Privilege allied with ignorance,” he writes, “has become an equally pernicious, and perhaps more pervasive, enemy to justice,” before going on to focus on disability as a missing piece in the Ford Foundation’s jigsaw of diversity. If people are concerned about privilege, of course, there’s an obvious solution—just give it up: spend out your wealth, roll [...]
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