Precursors
to New Social Movements
Adapted from writings in the 1970s,
80s, and 90s. Updated Nov. 2014.
Some precursors to New forms of
Social Movements spreading rapidly on Earth may be traced to action documented
in the paper Informal Networks and
New Social Movements that outlines the social
relating based movements spreading through South America and through the
Asia Oceania Australasia Region since the 1960s.
From 1958 in Sydney, Australia psychiatrist humanitarian
barrister Dr Yeomans pioneered the use of community
of a particular kind as a medium for nurturing community mutual help action for wellbeing; refer Community Ways for Healing the World.
Yeomans has been recognised as a global pioneer in
evolving Therapeutic
Community (refer Glossary)
by the Therapeutic Communities Open Forum in the UK.
This document also extends the document Declaration of Governance and Law
that outlines ways for Global Reform of local, regional, and global governance.
This document also extends the themes in Dr Neville
Yeomans’ 1974 document On Global
Reform - INMA where INMA meant Intercultural Normative Model Areas. In the On Global Reform – Inma document Neville introduces some core
values guiding these new social movements as being:
a) peacefulness and harmony
b) ecological quality and abundance
c) economic wellbeing, and
d) social and political justice
The movement is about evolving the new
rather than opposing the old.
Neville Yeomans conceived of a three-stage Transition process (T1-T3) based upon the above four values in transforming towards a new epoch on earth:
Tl = Consciousness-raising
in national Arenas
T2 = Mobilizing in Transnational Arenas
T3 = Transforming in Global Arenas
During the 1970s, T1 Consciousness-Raising began firstly among the
most disadvantaged of the area, including the First Peoples. Thus human relations groups on a live-in basis and in dispersed
networks began assisting both the growth of solidarity and personal freedom of
expression amongst such persons.
In initial experiences along these lines the release of fear and resentment within the
indigenous members against Europeans led to a level of understanding and mutual
trust both within the indigenous members, and between them and European
members.
A mutual awareness of humanness led to the development not of a 'social
contract' but rather of a community agreement. In legal terms a legally
enforceable social contract may be contrasted with a morally enforceable, and
perhaps in future a cogent humane law agreement based upon shared and strongly
held values-based norms.
The next step was the
focussing of activities on the local Intercultural Normative Model Areas
(INMAs). This was accompanied by widespread T1 activities in the INMAs,
conducted largely by those trained by previous groups.
Aborigines and resonant others from all over Australia and
overseas visitors became involved. Over a number of years the population of the
INMAs have increasingly involved people from many cultures.
Informal Networking has been growing through the Australasia
Oceania Asia Region with news of healing ways that work passing in these
networked networks. The word ‘healing’
is used in the original sense of ‘to make whole’.
T1
Consciousness-Raising in National Arenas
In the 1960s, Dr Neville Yeomans and his
brother Ken with many others explored festivals, gatherings, ceremonies, and
celebrations as consciousness raisers, where themes were conducive to people
having social cohesion. Word was spreading of a global shift occurring - a new
consciousness bringing the vision of world peace, harmony, and prosperity.
These gatherings became places to informally network and spread network
linkages. Refer ConFest and the Next 250 Years - Past
and Future Possibilities and Sociograms.
And there’s recognising spreading rapidly that a global money
system based upon an exponentially increasing debt, and the accompanying slavery
of indebtedness to a few with astronomical wealth and power violates
unalienable rights. So, people with values and capacity are preparing
alternative local, regional and global means of exchange, energy exchange and
local exchange trading processes and the like.
This social transforming action has been happening among
indigenous peoples’ linking with people well versed in action research in the
natural and social sciences in the Asia Oceania Australasia Region, the UK, and
wider afield. The focus in these extended networks of networks has been
exploring abundant thriving futures for earth and all life upon it.
A
feature of this New Social Movement is rumours networking. This is where news
of what has worked is passed on within networked networks with the invite to
explore and adapt these ways if you want to in your own contexts.
The signing of the final draft of a Treaty evidences the
Profound Agreement of peace and friendship that participants have already entered into.
Dr Yeomans work in evolving Informal healer networks in the Australia Top End in the 1970s are outlined in From the Outback. He writes of one mutual-help network forming with the name UP-INMA meaning Unique Peoples – Intercultural Normative Model Areas; referring to areas where people are exploring new norms for living well together.
As examples of
earlier treaties, in 1992 Unique Peoples Treaties were written and signed –
refer:
a) Inter-people Healing
Treaty Between Non-government Organisations and Unique Peoples
b) The Young Peoples
Healing Learning Code
From the
above two treaties emerged the idea of forming common understandings and
agreement between peoples and bodies coming together in gatherings from the
1960s onwards.
These
common understandings may pass through peoples, cultures, and societies right
through to leaders of sovereign nations around the world. These understanding
may then emerge as Treaties. One of these potential agreements became known as
the Preliminary UN-INMA Treaty.
Resonant Links:
Evolving Criteria as
Benchmarks for Wellbeing Action