In this thought piece, Katherine Trebeck (Edinburgh Futures Institute writer-at-large) and Professor Liz Grant (Assistant Principal for Global Health | Director of the Global Health Academy) introduces the Compassionate Conversations with the Economic Establishment project, arguing that compassion offers a method for economic system change.
The problem
The economic change movement, in all its wonderful diversity, is great at critique. It has also generated powerful ideas and visions of what alternatives might entail. Many have put brush strokes on a beautiful picture of a better future and many others are rolling up their sleeves and building it in practice in their communities, enterprises, and even in certain corridors of power.
But that hasn’t been enough.
Ecosystems are closer to irreversible breakdown sooner than most scientists expected.
Openly fascist politicians are sitting in legislatures across Europe and beyond. Communities who recognise that they have been failed by the prevailing way of doing things are not turning to the ideas in the economic change movement’s reports, toolkits and websites. Instead many are turning to the simplistic and insincere prescriptions of populist politicians who offer uncluttered roadmaps to better days (for their ‘in-group’ at least).
Politicians, while recognising the challenges, are reaching back for 20th century recipes which tend to be reliant on economic growth and often conceptualise citizens as self-interested consumers.
The proposition
This suggests that there are two critical audiences that the economic change movement needs to do better at engaging with:
- Communities most harmed by the current economic system.
- The economic establishment who do so well out of the current system and who influence politicians and reinforce status-quo thinking.
The first matters, most importantly, because they are those who have borne the brunt of business as usual. Ensuring they are at the forefront of change is a matter of justice.
They are also essential because to be effective, there is a need to expand the ‘choir’ far beyond the economic change movement itself. This requires listening and working alongside these communities as they explore how new economy ideas can help ensure a better life for them, their families, and their grandchildren. To go from the notional support for new economy ideas recorded in opinion poll after opinion poll to active agitation for the changes. This will enable more champions inside governments to be confident that there is enough of a base in favour of change that they can stare down an almost inevitable push back.
The additional question though, is how to moderate this push back?
That is where the second audience comes in: actors who are most aligned to the current system. Yes, the so-called ‘intrapreneurs’ inside government must be included and many economic change champions undertake successful advocacy work with these intrapreneurs. But the focus needs to also encompass those who most benefit from the prevailing economic configuration (in terms of wealth, power, and status).
They are people whose economic privilege, standing in society, sense of purpose, and even worldview is premised on business as usual. So this is a group with – ostensibly – the most to lose from transition to a different economic model. While diverse, many members of the ‘economic establishment’ have considerable power to maintain the current state of affairs by wielding their economic wealth to attain access to decision makers and to influence policies in ways that benefit them.
While ‘building the new while the old still exists’ has a place, those closest to (traditional conceptions of) power can either facilitate or block change. Without recognising and attending to this reality, change in the economic system and the policies and institutions that shape it will be hampered, if not impossible. A critical mass of those in the economic establishment need to:
- weaken their adherence to the current model, and thus cease from actions that perpetuate and reinforce it;
- or (even better!) lend their support (resources and influence) to actions to change the economy.
Critiquing this group, exposing the processes that have generated their wealth and power, and working to dismantle their grip from the outside are possible approaches (and ones which are often deployed by various actors in the economic change movement). But we suggest another approach could be deployed as well: compassionate conversations with the economic establishment themselves.
The project
Compassion is about noticing someone’s suffering, caring about it, understanding it, and then taking action. At its heart it is relational. The root of the word compassion is coming alongside (com) the suffering (passion) that is in the world. It is simultaneously thoughtful and proactive.
Compassion therefore offers a method for economic system change. In contexts of potential disagreement, compassion can enable appreciation of others’ views, views which are often based on their own personal circumstances.
The Compassionate Conversations with the Economic Establishment project is about developing a multifaceted understanding of groups and individuals that comprise the economic establishment. This requires seeing them as fellow humans, with all the hopes, fears, biases, insecurities, history, worldviews, and blind spots that this inherently entails. It necessitates understanding the context in which they operate: the pressures, the influences, the assumptions, and the constraints they face. Only by appreciating these will compassionate conversations be possible to the extent needed to secure their proactive (or at least neutral) approach to economic system change.
Compassionate conversations recognise that invariably:
- Changing people’s perceptions and approach comes from empowerment and engagement which creates a safe space to open up minds. This is in contrast to critique, attack, or victimisation that leads to defensiveness and shutting down of conversations
- System-level problems cannot be tackled by attacking the individuals who benefit from that system
- Most people share a greater attachment to intrinsic values than extrinsic ones and this presents a possibility of common ground from which to build dialogue and even partnerships.
This project will deploy a combination of learning from others who work on how to frame and expand conversations on various challenging topics; listening to sources that influence the economic establishment; interviews and discussion groups; and testing emerging principles for compassionate conversations.
Conclusion
Few within the economic system wish to propagate suffering, or to perpetuate a system that causes suffering. But the structures, goals, assumptions, governance models, and ownership patterns of today’s economy are undeniably causing suffering, to people and the planet. We are working to develop and undertake the Compassionate Conversations with the Economic Establishment project. We know it isn’t a magic wand on its own, but we hope it is part of a constructive bridge-building initiative. We also know it won’t be easy and we can’t do it on our own. So we welcome partners and other input. Do get in touch!
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