2. How societal change comes about

1. Change is hard.

Much of what we do is copying what others around us do. It is perhaps the single most important and defining social dynamic within any society: we want to belong, so we adopt the ideas and actions of the group.

This is what makes change so difficult. Someone has to start thinking and acting differently and then others have to be convinced to go against the flow as well. That takes courage.

2. Change begins with how we think.

The seed for change usually originates in thinking, starting with someone pondering about how something can be done better.

3. Successful change requires us to act.

Having an idea for change is good. Acting on it is better. Only when an idea is turned into action is change made concrete.

4. Change requires thinking and doing.

For some, change begins by thinking of changing something.

For others, change will begin by doing something to which their thinking adapts to afterwards.

5. Change is achieved together.

Change needs a critical mass to be effective. Once that is reached, the chances of more people and organizations following suit, will increase as well.

6. Hegemonic change quietly sneaks into our lives.

Hegemonic changes are usually small, minuscule almost, and arise more often at the periphery than at the center. Only when such small changes are picked up and accepted more broadly do they gradually advance towards the center.

We often have little or no awareness that anything has changed and notice it only after the fact, when it has already taken hold.

When more and more people begin to think and act differently, the way things were done before can gradually shift into the background. Due to the steady pace, we do not experience this as a loss.

Meanwhile, the new way of thinking and doing is gradually being considered normal and obvious.

Henceforth, the individuals or groups who deviate from it are considered to be the odd ones out. They become the stranger, the anomaly. As such, hegemony is at once inclusive and exclusive.

7. Hegemonic change tends to be slow.

Hegemonic change tends to be embedded more strongly when it takes shape slowly and is steadily carried more widely. In a symbiotic movement, the change thus becomes an indivisible whole of a hegemony. Once that circle is complete, it is often difficult to imagine how different things used to be.

From this also follows that you cannot change hegemony as a whole. You can only work on smaller, partial elements within hegemony.

How far the impact of a hegemonic change reaches, is impossible to predict in advance. Yet, there is a real chance that it will go further than initially thought. Hegemonic change in one domain can indirectly affect other domains, as many things are interconnected.

8. Change is inevitable.

Even though hegemonies usually change slowly and with small steps, change is always possible. More so, it is inevitable.

Not that long ago.

Many things that we consider normal in today's hegemony were viewed very differently not that long ago. How we think about racism, sexism, gay rights and so much more is very different today compared to a few decades ago. Even though it may seem that what we have now was inevitable, much of it could have turned out differently.

We tend to look at the world through colored glasses. The dominant paradigm colors large parts of what we see, making it difficult for us to imagine how we could color reality differently. What we take for granted today is often of more recent making than we initially think.

9. Hegemony changes when we, citizens, change.

Even though most hegemonic change sneaks into our lives almost unnoticed, you still need a mass for it to materialize.

That’s why we, citizens, hold the keys to bringing about hegemonic change.

When we, citizens, start thinking and acting differently, hegemony changes.

Spreading like wildfire

➔ Change begins with a spark in one individual.

➔ That spark can lit up other individuals as well when they begin to think the same way or come together to realize a goal. This combination of sparks can turn into a bonfire.

➔ When more and more of such bonfires arise, things can start to spread like wildfire.

➔ When fires from different places come together, the chance of a raging fire increases.

➔ Then, as the flames rise upwards, institutions may begin to notice something and hegemonic change may begin to take hold there as well.

10. Hegemonic change moves from individuals over social organizations to institutions.

Change begins with the individual and becomes real when multiple individuals exchange ideas and start new social organizations. As such, change is realized at the micro and meso levels. There we find the main levers for hegemonic change. When change is successfully implemented there, the institutions at the macro level can eventually follow.

That’s because the degree of flexibility in thinking and acting is different for individuals, social organizations and institutions:

• Individuals are the most flexible in thinking and acting, • Followed by social organizations. • Institutions are the least flexible in thought and action.

Hegemonic change starts with individuals and social organizations. Institutions are the last link in the chain.

We, citizens, are everywhere

Ultimately, we, citizens, are everywhere.

We populate all social organizations...

... and we populate all institutions.

When we change, the social organizations and institutions in which we’re active, change with us. Each time we bring different ideas to work, it creates a breeding ground for new ways of thinking and acting. Ultimately, the dividing line between who we are privately and publicly is thin and porous.

How we are at home, professionally, and within various social organizations is fluid and overflows the boundaries of different playing fields.

That’s how hegemonic change is prepped at the institutional level. Through us, hegemonic change gradually permeates our institutions. This is a necessary step because only when the institutions also embrace hegemonic change, will it come full circle.

Hegemonic change at the institutional level is an absolute necessity to bring about a new hegemony.

11. Institutions will probably be last to embrace hegemonic change (and by then it will no longer be a surprise).

Institutions will likely only begin to shift towards hegemonic change when it is already widely adopted within society (among individuals and social organizations), by which time, it can no longer be ignored.

12. Hegemonic change becomes institutionalized when it flows back towards social organizations and individuals.

Hegemonic change initially moves from the bottom to the top - from individuals via social organizations to institutions.

Once arrived there, hegemonic change can become institutionalized. When institutions subscribe to the new way of thinking and acting, hegemonic change can flow from the top back to the bottom. Individuals and social organizations that had not yet embraced hegemonic change can now be hoisted aboard.

Of course, not everyone will go along. But many will. That’s how hegemonic change is institutionalized. The hegemonic change which was at first the anomaly has now become the new normal.

CHAPTER 2 | How societal change comes about

Change is difficult but at the same time never completely impossible.

Hegemonic change begins with individuals who think differently and it becomes concrete through social organizations that act differently.

This type of change usually proceeds slowly and it does not materialize everywhere equally or as thoroughly. Of all the actors within a hegemony - individuals, social organizations and institutions - the latter are the last to embrace hegemonic change.

Yet, for hegemonic change to be completed, it needs to become institutionalized. Until then, we, individuals and social organizations, must persevere and regularly revisit some important questions:

1) In what direction is the hegemonic change proceeding? 2) Do we agree with this direction? 3) Is the hegemonic change happening fast enough? 4) What can we do to hasten things?

Crises and change

The COVID-19 crisis demonstrated that we are capable of rapid and drastic change. But it equally shows that when a new way of thinking and acting is imposed upon us (when it is not something we have deliberately chosen ourselves), it is difficult to sustain. Such changes are usually not internalized or internalized only with great difficulty (and lots of reluctance).

Crises, therefore, are poor drivers for the creation of hegemonic change. Even though crises sometimes force us to make drastic changes, they are rarely wholehearted nor long-lasting. Even when crises drag on and a different course of action is enforced and maintained for a longer period of time, anchoring is still very doubtful. None of us like forced change.

Hegemonic change that is extrinsic (imposed from the outside) is more difficult to sustain and must be enforced more often. Hegemonic change that is intrinsic (something we’ve chosen to do) lasts longer and is sustained longer.

A mental split

When thinking and acting in different social domains is in conflict for example, privately and professionally - we can find ourselves in a state of cognitive dissonance.

Usually, we do not like such inconsistencies as they can be cause for distress. To deal with that, we make use of different strategies. We can...

1. Try to ignore the inconsistencies.

2. Try to reason away the inconsistencies.

3. Try to switch social environments, for example by changing jobs or joining other social organizations.

4. Try to change our current social environment by infusing the social organizations we’re a part of with different ways of thinking and acting as much as possible.

When different ways of thinking and acting have already become internalized, ignoring or reasoning away these inconsistencies may become a very tedious exercise. In such cases, changing the social environment may be the better solution.

Getting rid of inconsistencies through changes in the social environment is - especially at the individual level - a strong dynamic for anchoring counter-hegemonic thinking and acting.