A review of 3 big ideas: Paradigm shift, Neoliberalism vs Gaian Paradigm, Systems change. See also addendum - Dynamic Diffusion. Clare Strawn, Ph.D. May 2017

1. A review of 3 big ideas
1) Paradigm Shift
2) Neoliberalism vs Gaian Paradigm
3) Systems Change

2. Paradigm is a world view and the set of social
contracts and institutions that reproduce that
world view.

3. People don’t recognize the paradigm they are
enacting because it is “the sea you swim in”
You can’t imagine other possibilities

4. A paradigm shift starts when the worldview
doesn’t explain the world.

5. The American Story….
….Is falling apart

6. Democratic representation

7. Land of opportunity

8. You will succeed if you work hard

9. We value children

10. Justice and rule of law

11. Freedom

12. What is the paradigm that underlies
these contradictions?
• A capitalist economic theory that the “Free Market” is the solution to socio-economic problems.
• Supply and demand are the most efficient mechanisms to allocate resources and will balance
inequities. Public policy intervention and institutions such as unions create inequality.
• The underlying value system is that individuals should be able to make as much money and
accumulate as much power as they are able to.
This translates to the global economy through “Free Market” agreements that give corporate
enterprises control over local economies , environments, and workers. When these economies collapse
global meta corporations like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund impose ”structural
adjustments” in exchange for loans. Structural Adjustments cut back domestic spending, impose
“austerity” on social services and privatize resources so the country can afford to pay the interest.
NEO LIBERALISM

14. Economic assumptions underpinning
neoliberalism.
• Natural resources are raw materials for profit.
• Pollution, climate change, extinctions, human rights are
“externalities.” They are excluded from the economic
calculation.
• People get rich and powerful due to their own merit. If
you are poor, you are undeserving.
• No such thing as the commons or common good. The
rights of the individual trump those of the collective.

15. Neoliberalism
became the
dominant paradigm
in just the last 37
years.
It is a planned
global socio-
economic shift led
by the global elite.

17. The neoliberal story is falling apart.
Global Crises
1) Climate change
2) Unsustainable wealth distribution
3) Failure of democratic institutions
These problems can’t be solved under the
neoliberal paradigm

18. But it isn’t
enough to
shift the
paradigm

19. Steps to shifting a paradigm.
1) Expose the problems that can’t be solved
or explained in the old world view.
2) Delegitimize the story so people ask deep
questions that shift their world view.
3) Propose other possibilities outside
the current paradigm.
4) Why is theory important? It helps us
develop a new story and it guides the
most effective strategy.

20. A new paradigm: Theory of Relativity
(we are all related)

21. Gaia Hypothesis
Earth is a self-organizing living system.

22. Humans, all life, and the planet are inter-connected.
What are the paradigmatic
implications of this world view
as contrasted to neoliberalism?

23. A review of systems principles
Understanding ecosystems and permaculture design helps us understand social systems.
• A system is greater than the sum of its parts.
• A system’s boundaries are, to some extent, arbitrary and are defined
by its identity (shared story or paradigm).
• Everything is connected…so a shift in one part has ripple effects
through the whole system.
• The relationships between the parts are more important than the
individual parts.

24. Systems are dynamic, evolving and adaptive
• They are self organizing though levels of complexity, functional
specialization, adaptation and integration.
• Healthy systems are open – they exchange energy and information
with their environment. They are context sensitive.
• Information flows through feedback loops. Positive feedback loops
tell the system to keep going, Negative feedback curtails expansion.
• Cause and effect are not linear, they are indirect, geometric, and inter
related.

25. Will
this
change
the
neoliberal
paradigm?
How do systems change?

26. What holds social systems together?
SYSTEM: Reproduced
relations between actors
or collectivities
organized as regular
social practices.
STRUCTURE: Rules and
resources organized as
properties of system.
Gives systems solidity
over space and time.
STRUCTURATION: The
process of reproducing
social systems.
Knowledgeable activities
of situated Actors.
Giddens (1984)

27. Components of systemic
structuration
SIGNIFICATION
Group creation of
meaning (world view)
DOMINATION
Resource allocation through economic institutions
Resource authorization through political institutions
LEGITIMATION
Normative regulation through
legal institutions
The neoliberal
story is falling
apart.
Trumpism and
Crisis of
“Democracy”
99% concentration
Health care policy
Levers for systems change

28. Collapse
of the
dominant
male
principle
Rise of the
cooperative
female
principle
Another perspective on systems change

29. Pragmatists
Visionaries
Conservatives
We are
here
Introducing a Gaian Paradigm
Once 16% of a population has adopted a new idea, it has the CRITICAL MASS
to spread on its own momentum. This is the TIPPING POINT.
Don’t worry about
changing them now,
even though they
look like they have
the power.
Flat Earthers

30. Visionaries get the
idea.
Pragmatists need
to see social proof
or model to adopt.
To get to the tipping point you have to cross
“The Chasm”
PragmatistsVisionaries

31. What indicators of paradigm shift can we monitor?
• Free independent instantaneous communication
• Break from corporate media - democratization of news
• Collapse of global economic illusions of debt economy and value –
decentralized currencies
• Global social movements , eg: climate change
• Peer to peer economy – unmediated decentralized exchanges. People own
their own means of production, share and recycle. Crowd funding.
• Renewable energy – predictions are surpassed with increased technical
capability. Countries and cities going 100% renewable
• Return to local and organic food systems.
• Orientation toward abundance rather than scarcity. Need over greed.
• Consciousness shift to global citizenship over individualism. Increase in
meditation practices. More to life than money.

32. The tasks at hand:
• Keep folks “woke” so mobilization can be sustained to systemic levels
• Normalize Gaian values and delegitimize neoliberal values.
• Deepen theoretical understanding of the dying and emerging
paradigms and connect to underlying values.
• Disseminate the vision of other possibilities.
• Demonstrate the feasibility of Integrated and whole systems models.
• Proof of concept to appropriate scale.

33. Human
Needs
Economics
PolityCulture

34. Integrated Systems
Power
People
(civics)
Profit
Polity
Civic
Economic