Social Change 2.0

This extraordinary book has sat rather too long on my review shelves and should have been reviewed some years ago - however, better late than never. David Gershon is a pioneering social entrepreneur who has been active in transformative change since the late 1960s. The book lives up to its subtitle of a blueprint for reinventing our world and going beyond what the author calls Social Change 1.0 in terms of government command and control, financial incentives and citizen protest. Socials Change 2.0 starts from the premise that these previous tools are inadequate to the magnitude of the challenge of transforming and reorganising our societies at a higher level of performance. The author places the primary responsibility on us when we are empowered with a vision and the means to bring it to fruition. In this respect, we need new forms of leadership.

The first part of this book describes four social transformations involving learning journeys illustrating process, context and content. In each case, communities are mobilised around a common vision and plan of action involving strategic partnership and collaboration. The second part lays out the design principles for transformative social change with chapters on empowerment, transformation, social innovation, building a unitive field, and leveraging disproportionate influence. All the steps are explained, with useful charts of tools and processes that can be applied in different contexts. Aspiration, inspiration and hope need to be generated, as well as a deeper interpersonal understanding on the part of participators. Once a pilot has been achieved, this can then be disseminated and scaled up. The third part deals with leadership capacity, the empowerment of a climate change movement through the idea of a low carbon diet, and the possibility of transforming the paradigm of war through the emergence of a unity of consciousness. This is literally a question of revisioning ourselves and our capacities as human beings. The book is a roadmap not only for reinventing are world, but also for the processes by which this can be achieved. The author is convinced that 'people are willing to change if they have a compelling vision and are provided tools to help them bring it into being.' This in turn will transform the nature of our institutions as reflections of the new way of thinking. Compelling and inspirational reading for all would-be social entrepreneurs.