Nothing New Under the Sun?

Yesterday I wrote a post on 'Base your theory on reality or else stop what you're doing'. It sparked an interesting conversation about the very real challenges of changing big systems. So often, cutting edge social change organisations are at the forefront of good work - and then 6, 10, 15 years later a bigger organisation gets around to talking about the things that they were doing years ago and could barely (if even) get the funding for it. We say we want social change and sustainable development, but it is, at best, slow. Expensive consultancies are carried out at UN and other agencies - and then three years later, the organisations are asking for, essentially, the same consultancy. They didn't incorporate the lessons of the first one. Can organisations ever learn? There is talk of a 'new capitalism' and 'connected capitalism' - but that's not so far away from alternative models to capitalism suggested by the sustainability movement 20, 30, even 50 years ago (depending on who you talk to). Can societies learn?

Yes, they can. Slowly.Before getting too bogged down in the challenges of changing society, let's remember something: reality comes from repetition. A river becomes a river because water keeps flowing down it. It is the continual repetition (or very close to repetitive - after all, no river is ever the exact same, moment to moment) that causes change. Not one protestor, but thousands. Not one protest, but hundereds. Not in one location, but around the country. Not for one hour, but for hours, or days. So articles, reports, consultancies, etc that are not in some way supported by others - that are not connected - can not actually lead to real change - to real sustainable development. Somedays, it may seem as if there is nothing new under the sun - but that's not necessary a bad thing. Just because an idea is 'old' doesn't mean it is out of date - take the Tobin Tax, now gaining serious milage. Why? Because there is a new 'policy space', an openness to explore an old idea and apply it to the current situation.

Marcia's recent post on crowdsourcing offers another aspect of this - social enterprise using crowdsourcing is definately new. It uses connection and repetition at a whole new level - essential for the repetitive patterns that create social change. And it is threatening established philanthropy and established ways of doing things. How much that philanthropy will really change - hard to say. But it's got a fascinating combination of old and new ingredients - certainly worth watching to see how (if) it will change sustainable development.