Systemic Resources
Holistic Democracy
Introduction
By undoing divisive habits and overcoming fragmentation, massive grassroots movements can control the desire to dominate and the willingness to submit for personal gain, and build the widespread unity needed to establish holistic democracy throughout society. Toward this end, the Americans for Humanity suggests the Declaration for Holistic Democracy.
Compassionate cultural, social, personal, economic, environmental, and political change — all moving toward democratic equality — can dissolve exploitative domination and produce a combined, synergistic effect throughout society that’s greater than a change in any one of these sectors alone. Fundamental improvements in one sector can reinforce improvements in the other sectors and contribute to the synergistic transformation of our entire society — a holistic transformation that addresses the whole person and the whole society, and systemic transformation that changes how society’s structures are interwoven. Eventually, tipping points can be reached that trigger “phase transitions” (like water boiling) and “avalanches” that lead to sudden massive shifts throughout society.
Establishing democratic hierarchies, overcoming exploitative domination, and institutionalizing compassion with new structures will be difficult until America repents for past sins and individuals accept their responsibility for perpetuating the current social system. We did not build these structures, but we can reform them.
This work requires us to engage in honest self-examination, help each other undo the oppressive social conditioning that’s embedded deep within each of us, awaken profound compassion, and cultivate co-equal partnerships. If compassion-minded individuals acknowledge mistakes and personal weaknesses, we can enhance the possibility of a holistic democracy movement that advances evolutionary revolution.
Humane domination can be justified. We can protect children from traffic and we can hold people accountable for violations of others’ rights — we might even put some in jail. But we need not dehumanize or brutalize them. Everyone is a victim and no one deserves to die.
Likewise, humane upward mobility can be acceptable. We can affirm the desire to advance, improve your position and income, or increase your knowledge and skills. But these ambitions can be pursued ethically. They need not involve cutthroat competition motivated by the urge to dominate others for the sake of your own ego, as the System encourages.
The landmark Combahee River Collective Statement declared, “If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression.”
The more we human beings — with conscious, intentional effort and mutual support — learn to respect each other as equals, the more we can undo injustice, promote democracy throughout society, and unite to serve humanity, the environment, and life itself.
Holistic Democracy Resources
Articles/Essays/Op-eds
Holistic Democracy: What is It?, Philip A. Woods.
“Holistic democracy is a way of working together which encourages individuals to grow and learn as whole people and facilitates co-responsibility, mutual empowerment and fair participation of all in co-creating their social and organisational environment. Four dimensions of practice are at its core: holistic meaning… power sharing… transforming dialogue… holistic well-being.
Researching Holistic Democracy in Schools, Philip A. Woods.
“The aspiration to translate democratic principles into practice is ambitious. Democracy...seeks to enable people to be co-creators of their social environment and, through this, make the most of their innate capacity to learn and to develop their highest capabilities and ethical sensibilities. It is perpetually under pressure because it challenges assumptions about the...dominance of economistic priorities. It is vulnerable to opposition from those who have greater legitimacy, authority, and influence through less democratic ways of governance...
I have found it helpful to draw upon… the work of T. H. Green, which influenced Dewey and includes among its sources ideas forged in the revolutionary times of the 17th century… The first is the individual or subjective root of democracy... The second is the intersubjective aspect. The freeing of human potential is not solely a matter of individual effort. Personal growth involves interacting, connecting, and empathizing with fellow beings and the world around them, and learning with and from other people. The third concerns governance and how social living is regulated.”
Philip Woods and Holistic Democracy, Wade Lee Hudson.
“With his systemic analysis, Woods embraces the need for a peaceful 'social order.’ [He writes:] ‘Intersubjective interaction is an important corrective to focusing solely on individual awareness and change... ‘The evolution of values and ideas with enduring validity that transcend narrow interests...also involves co-creation through transforming dialogue and holistic learning’ in a process that is intersubjective and collaborative.
‘There are interests and groups who are marginalised and systematically disadvantaged... Rich democracy addresses systematic social injustices. The full power of democracy, however, is not only as a vehicle for championing the weaker interests and aspiring to inclusive participation. [It counters] a performative and neo-liberal ideology that appears so dominant in many countries…’
Examination of the New Tech Model as a Holistic Democracy, Jill Bradley-Levine and Gina Mosier.
Using the Degrees of Democracy Framework (Woods & Woods, 2012), we examined eight New Tech (NT) high schools to determine the extent to which they demonstrated characteristics of holistic democracy. We collected qualitative data, including observations and interviews during the fourth year of implementation. Findings indicated that the eight NT schools demonstrated many features of holistic democracy with a few exceptions. This study has implications for researchers and school communities interested in measuring holistic democracy in other schools and within school models.
Reflections on Elizabeth Anderson.
“Anderson’s primary concern is social equality — equality not just in politics and economics but also equality in social relations throughout society — how to treat each other as equals, without trying to dominate, or being willing to submit. She calls this democratic equality.”
What is the Point of Equality?, Elizabeth S. Anderson.
“to create a community in which people stand in relations of equality to others…. People, not nature, are responsible for turning the natural diversity of human beings into oppressive hierarchies…. Egalitarians can take other features of society besides the distribution of goods, such as social norms, as subject to critical scrutiny.”
The Paradox of the Beatitudes, Paul Tillich.
“There is no distinction made in the Beatitudes between spiritual and material want, and there is no distinction made between spiritual and material fulfillment... The Beatitudes praise those who will be fulfilled in their whole being... Perhaps we are right to consider the catastrophe of our present world as a fulfillment of the Woes which Jesus directed against a rich, abundant, laughing, self-congratulating social order.” [NOTE: This link goes to a collection of sermons. Click on The Paradox of the Beatitudes to see this resource.]
America’s Racial Karma, Interview with Larry Ward by Julie Flynn Badal.
“Karma is a theory of action and consequence that describes how good deeds generate good results and more good deeds in a positive feedback loop, while bad deeds do the opposite... It’s just a cycle of action, a pattern that lives inside of us. It’s wired into us neurologically, but also economically, politically, and culturally.
We’re all traumatized by the karma of racism...and the structures that shape our present day,... We’re built for the sublime. But we’ve organized our lives up to this point as fools... The colonial model deprives empathy...
The issues we have in the world today are about hearts and minds trapped in patterns that are no longer adequate. Our systems come out of these patterns. So we have to do the inner work at the same time as outer work. Otherwise, we’re just rearranging furniture on the deck of the Titanic.”
Optimizing Globalization Will Become Possible with a New Paradigm, Hector E Garcia.
“Most societies adapted, in varying degrees, to the management of the economy and technology within globalization, because these sectors are tangible and susceptible to measurement and consensus. Yet, interconnectedness of only the concrete will produce limited synergies and lead to zero-sum games, which mainly allow for either/or, win/lose options of binary logic instead of win/win potentialities…
Humanity has a great capacity to unleash physical forces of global impact, but we have put the cart of progress before the horse of idealism and human agency. Now we need to see reality and ourselves from a broader perspective and think more maturely in order to learn how to harness and direct reality more effectively towards those ideals. The paradoxes and crises of globalization are calling for a shift from the stagnant paradigm of either/or reductionism to a synergistic paradigm of Cultural Complementarity”
Lessons in Constructive Solitude from Thoreau, Holland Cotter.
“…...The education further entailed a total immersion in Nature — in plants, in seasons, in stars, in all creatures four-legged, winged and scaled. For Thoreau, Nature was a communicating consciousness, and he wanted to make himself available to it, antennas raised. Full receptivity required removal from ego-driven clamor, which was how, in his most stressed moments, he viewed human discourse...
Finally, he used his set-aside time at Walden to clarify his political thinking. For Thoreau, revolution began at home, one person at a time. ‘We must first succeed alone,’ he wrote, ‘that we may enjoy our success together.’ In his view, purposeful solitude and justice-minded community were codependent, the source of long-term social health. He knew what his view was up against: among other things, America’s antsy addiction to distraction and its led-by-the-nose, corporation-fed faith in utopian technology.”
Books
Caste: The Origins of our Discontents, Isabel Wilkerson.
“The human impulse to create hierarchies runs across societies and cultures, predates the idea of race, and thus is farther reaching, deeper, and older than raw racism and the comparatively new division of humans by skin color.
In a world without caste, instead of a false swagger over our own tribe... we would look upon all of humanity with wonderment… Being male or female, light or dark, immigrant or native-born, would have no bearing on what anyone was perceived as being capable of… We would all be invested in the well-being of others in our species if only for our own survival, and recognize that we are in need of one another more than we have been led to believe. We would join forces with indigenous people around the world raising the alarm as fires rage and glaciers melt. We would see that, when others suffer, the collective human body is set back from the progression of our species.
A world without caste would set everyone free. [read more]
Creating a World That Works for All, Sharif Abdullah.
“The Mender Pledge: I believe in inclusivity. I believe that our lives are inextricably linked one to another. We cannot wage war against anyone without waging war against ourselves. Therefore, I will practice inclusivity with myself, my family, my community, the natural world, and all others. I will actively work toward the goal of an inclusive society, a world that works for all. I know that we are One. Therefore, I will give to you what I want for me. I know there is enough for all. I want everyone to win. Therefore, I will work to resolve all conflicts to every party’s satisfaction. I want acceptance, Therefore, I will accept myself for who and what I am. I will accept you for who and what you are, and I will accept all others for who and what they are. Even if I resist your behavior, I will accept you as a Child of God, a part of the Divine. I want no harm. Therefore, I will not harm myself or you or any others, by thought, word, or deed. I want forgiveness. Therefore, I will forgive myself, I will forgive you, and I will forgive all others. I want to be free. Therefore, I will not let others dominate, control, or manipulate me. And I will not dominate, control, or manipulate you or others. I want peace. Therefore, I will be peaceful with myself, with you, and with others. I want love. Therefore, I will love myself, I will love you and I will love all others. [See Donald Trump: The Triumph of Frustration, The Failure Of Vision, Shariff M. Abdullah.]
The Spiritual Activist: Practices to Transform Your Life, Your Work, and Your World (2002), Claudia Horwitz.
Citing the pervasiveness of burnout in such trades as social work, teaching, non-profit administration, volunteerism, and art, a guide for readers seeking to make a difference in the world cites the importance of faith and spiritual practice in social activism and offers advice on slowing down, reinforcing relationships, and balancing work and a personal life.
Clash or Complement of Cultures? Peace and Productivity in the New Global Reality, Hector E, Garcia.
“This book recommends a balance between cooperation and competition in intercultural/international relations, with more emphasis on the former. To make this possible, it describes a paradigm shift and demonstrates why it is logical and how it can be attained — thus going beyond traditional legal and moral compliance. Compliance has been insufficient because morality has been significantly dismissed as a “soft value,” and civil rights laws have been circumvented and frequently ineffective.
The book proposes that revolutionary changes caused by globalization require an equivalent paradigm. Interdependence inherent to globalization will not function if winning-is-the-only-thing mindset continues to prevail in the U.S. and the West.
Cultural Complementarity is validated through respected principles and practices in quantum physics, education, business, and economics. End chapters focus on national and international applications of the paradigm. Appendices have data and suggested programs to test and implement the theory.”
New Power: How Power Works in Our Hyperconnected World—and How to Make It Work for You, Jeremy Heiman & Henry Timms.
They make a strong case for dynamics that are “open, participatory, and peer driven.” Yet they also write: ”As we see with ISIS and the growing hordes of white supremacists,... the tools that bring us closer together can also drive us further apart.” Heimans and Timms argue we can avoid this danger by creating “a world in which all major social and economic institutions are designed so that [all] people can more meaningfully shape every aspect of their lives.” (see review)