Hegemony and how to kick off social change

With alternative development theory, Lingam describes development as "no longer viewed simplistically as gross domestic product, growth rate, and per capita income, but rather, measured through poverty reduction and improvements int he quality of life and familial community well being" (pg. 205). How do we make the necessary social changes to go from our current view of human growth and development to one that is more well rounded like the alternative development theory?

As someone that identifies as a socialist, it is my personal belief that capitalism does not meet or even attempt to meet basic human needs. It has no need to. With shareholders and corporate interests, a community's well being does not have to be considered. Globalization may have some positive impacts upon the global economy, but overall the effects are creating a constant under class and wide spread inequality. In order for capitalism and globalization to flourish and be successful, there must always be an underclass. In Western cultures or in the United States, “The Positive Functions of Poverty”, by Herbert Gans can be easily applied to this topic. Gans discusses how as a society need inequality and that society wouldn't be able to function without it.

If our society values capitalism or the idea of the 'American Dream' - of having nothing and pulling yourself up by your boot straps to have it all, then it is easy to see why our culture feels that leaving others behind is acceptable. "I did it, they can to." In 2011, US Senator Marco Rubio famously said that, "We are a nation of haves and soon-to-haves, of people who have made it and people who will make it." -- This kind of thinking is simply false and it encourages this hegemonic thinking that is the opposite of coercion. Whereas coercion uses force or intimidation to get folks to do what you want, hegemony is the act of convincing another that it is in their best interest to do what you want them to do.

Our political system and politicians as it is now, want us to believe that there are no structural inequalities or systemic injustices. It wants us to believe that with hard work and determination we can make it to the top and be one of the "haves" and we can look at the 'soon to haves". If we blame each other or blame ourselves for large failures, we are less likely to demand change.

What kind of changes could we make?

First, changes would need to be grounded in bottom up work with the beginnings in a grass roots campaign (Lingam 209). Taking a combination of community development practices would encourage citizens to become more active in the democratic process if members were able to see changes on a local level occurred. Starting with neighborhood or community organizing would allow for the organization to grow and develop over time, increasing members as the movement progresses. For example, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, participants spent a year in small neighborhood planning and budgeting groups (Gamble, 335). The involvement of citizens meant they had a say in the projects that would be funded in their neighborhood. The first budget meeting included roughly 1,000 citizens and within 10 years grew to be over 40,000 people (Gamble, 335).

Small changes lead to large social movements and we would begin to see a paradigm shift from our current way of thinking about capitalism and human development to something like alternative development theory that focuses on the improvement in quality of life and well being for all.

References

Gans, H (1971). The Uses of Poverty: The Poor Pay All. Social Policy July/August pp. 20-24.

Marco Rubio: United States Senator for Florida. (2001) Rubio: "We Are A Nation Of Haves And Soon-To-Haves" [Press Release]. Retrieved from: http://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=66bd09d9-2acc-41c0-b853-b43ee6f27ad2

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/socialism

Gamble, D. (2013). Participatory methods in social work. In Weil, M., Reisch, M., & Ohmer, M. L. (Eds.). (2013). The handbook of community practice (2nd ed., pp. 327-344). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Lingam, L. (2013). Development theories and community development practices: trajectory of changes. In Weil, M., Reisch, M., & Ohmer, M. L. (Eds.). (2013). The handbook of community practice (2nd ed, pp. 195 - 215). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.