Agency matters
“Transformative change involves activating individual agency, collective agency, and political agency to generate systems and cultures that are both equitable and sustainable.”
- You Matter More Than You Think, p.4
Transformations to an equitable and thriving world will not happen through wishful thinking and hope. In fact, action and agency are essential to realizing desired outcomes and to manifest the quality and depth of changes called for in times of crisis. It is not just agency, but the quality of agency that is important when it comes to scaling transformative change.
Agency is an entangled phenomenon, and the outcomes of our intentions and actions affect us all, whether we are aware of it or not. Actions based on universal values represent a shift from “us versus them” to [I/we], and this is essential for shifting cultures and systems. When we embody universal values such as equity and integrity, we experience that we are connected and entangled. From this [I/we] space, we are able to access our collective intelligence and use it to disrupt old patterns and generate new ones. This is foundational to generating an equitable and sustainable world.
Below are some examples of values-based agency that show the power of both individual and collective agency.
Emilie Sandé “You are not alone”:
In her uplifting and inspiring song “You Are Not Alone”, the British singer songwriter Emeli Sandé conveys the power and joy we can find when we connect with our inner strength and each other:
“Are you dreaming of a brighter future? / Or somewhere the children can be free?
Will you risk it all to tell the truth? Yeah / My friend, oh, you are not alone”
“Alternativet” / “The Alternative”
“Alternativet” / “The Alternative” is a global network of political platforms working towards a new political system, culture and vision. It was founded in 2013 in Denmark by Uffe Elbaek, aiming to “completely reimagine how politics is done”. Just two years later, its Danish political wing won 5% of the vote and had 5 MPs elected to the Danish parliament. The movement has now spread to other countries such as the UK, where the focus is on designing and facilitating political ‘laboratories’ to transform the language and practice of politics and establish a genuine alternative to the current political system, culture and establishment.
Key to its way of working are its six core values, which guide and shape the movement’s work: courage, generosity, transparency, humility, humour and empathy. As they say, “The values are not just there to be brought out on special occasions [but] must be constant indicators that are visible in our daily political work – in the way we think, speak and act”. Find out more at https://alternativet.dk/en and https://www.thealternative.org.uk
Agency in language
In their book An Ecotopian Lexicon, editors Matthew Schneider-Mayerson and Brent Ryan Bellamy invited 30 collaborators to contribute words from other cultures to the English language, with a view to developing a broader vocabulary for discussing environmental challenges and solutions.
Karen O’Brien and her co-author Ann Kristin Schorre contributed an entry discussing the Norwegian concept of ildsjel, an expansion of the English word agency that goes further by incorporating concepts such as passion and commitment for community empowerment. The term applies both to individuals as well as groups and communities.
As Karen and Ann say, “We need empowering expressions of humanity’s potential to contribute to a healthy world in which all can thrive. Ildsjeler have the capacity to light the fire in others and generate transformations to a more just and sustainable world.” An original artwork by artist Lori Damiano beautifully evokes the essence of the concept
https://cchange.no/2020/03/a-new-language-to-describe-our-complex-world/
Reem Assil - creating value-based equitable food systems
Reem Assil is a Syrian-Palestinian restauranteur in Oakland, California. Through her award-winning food business, she works to support herself and her family in a way that can also create a more equitable future for the community around her. “I want to live in two realities at the same time”, she says. “It’s like two pieces of the work…You’ve got to fight the system but then you’ve got to build a dual system”. Reem shows how it is possible to take a “both/and” approach to shifting beliefs and systems based on her values: as she says, “If I’m true to my values, that’s when I’m the most successful”. She is featured in the short film below by Tunde Wey, which looks at the challenges to food systems and their potential for change, especially in the light of the devastating impact of COVID-19.