Life: Prefigurations

This section is about the life experiences of those doing pioneering work for building the world they want to see. It aim to be a fertilising for ideas, inspiration for creativity, a source of hope.

Social change for justice, equity and stewardship of the Earth and all forms of life is very much needed, but how do we get there? What is our "theory of change"?

Social movements, informal groups, political parties and other insitutions and organisations around the world have all been experimenting different pathways throughout history. Some of them have been focussing on mainstreaming ideas and visions through (political) education or  winning political power to be able to introduce change from within the insitutional machine, while others  have been experimenting things on the ground, starting from where they are, from their communities, their own day-to-day behaviour and choices, from pulling resources together, building collaborations across different social groups, trying new alliances and ideas. They have been focussing on "prefiguring" the world they want to see for the future, through building it at best as they could in their present, with the resources and collaborations they could mobilise in their communities.

Whatever is your theory of change - I believe there is much to learn from these pioneers, and that by seeing what is possible, we can build hope around us, cross-fertilise ideas, inspire people to act, realise everyone has agency of some sort. In a world where the vast majority of people don't believe in the politics of representative democracy, and those in power are often caught in the wheels of neoliberal and austerity logics there is much need of evidence that some many people and projects are making a difference. The challenge, of course, remain how to move beyond isolated initiatives, and look across, build alliances, and heal the harm of the many fractures and rifts that plague the world. 

This section wants to collect stories of prefigurative change, and become a resource or tool box for converging agroecology and urban movements.