Community Action for Social Change

Abstract

Governments are quick to act in self-interest and slow to act in response to reasoned argument in the public interest, unless it is supported by a large number of citizens who could possibly remove that government from office. Hence, the task of driving progressive social change falls on the shoulders of community-based non-government organisations (NGOs). To be effective, they must be well organised to the degree that they can exert nonviolent community power. They must deploy two related strategies: exerting the pressure of numbers on governments and business/industry to implement policies and, where possible, implementing some changes at the grassroots level independent of governments. This chapter refutes several myths about transitioning to a sustainable society, disseminated by proponents of the status quo. It then summarises all the key policies for socioeconomic change proposed in the previous chapters.KeywordsSocial change strategySocial change tacticsSocial change policiesPolitical powerSocial change myths