Nonviolence magazine opens a picture on the emerging world of peace, justice and harmony. 

Nonviolence is a hope-filled resource for practical idealists. Our aim is to offer fresh perspectives on human potential and inspire constructive action around the issues that matter: peacebuilding, democracy, social justice, economy, climate protection.

Subscribe Today!

Social change is a broad umbrella term that encompasses a range of typical social and civic outcomes ranging from increased awareness and understanding, to attitudinal change, to increased civic participation, the building of public will, to policy change that corrects injustice. Acknowledging that social change must start with the individual, as an organization we emphasize impact that happens at a broader institutional, group, or community level.

See Also:

Promote The Transition with Our Missions

Sources: What is Social Change?

Contributors: Animating Democracy

Recommended Reading: What is Social Change?

Non-Violent decision-makers use their power to achieve goals while respecting differences and cooperating with others. In this environment, it is considered violent to use power to dominate or control the group process. It is understood that the power of revealing your truth is the maximum force allowed to persuade others to your point of view.

The pace or flow of the meeting is the responsibility of the Facilitator. If the atmosphere starts to become tense, choose techniques which encourage balance and cooperation. If the meeting is going slowly and people are becoming restless, suggest a stretch or rearrange the agenda.

Unfortunately, modern day society is saturated in competition. When winning arguments becomes more important than achieving the group's goals, cooperation is difficult, if not impossible. Adversarial attitudes toward proposals or people focus attention on weakness rather than strength. An attitude of helpfulness and support builds cooperation. Cooperation is a shared responsibility in finding solutions to all concerns. Ideas offered in the spirit of cooperation help resolve conflict. The best decisions arise through an open and creative interplay of ideas.

Sometimes information needs to be collected during the meeting. To save time, circulate a clipboard to collect this information. Once collected it can be entered into the written record and/or presented to the group by the Facilitator.

To help the discussion flow more smoothly, those who want to speak can silently signal the Facilitator, who would add the person's name to a list of those wishing to speak, and call them in that order.

Because of personal differences (experience, assertiveness, social conditioning, access to information, etc.) and political disparities, some people inevitably have more effective power than others. To balance this inequality, everyone needs to consciously attempt to creatively share power, skills, and information. Avoid hierarchical structures that allow some individuals to assume undemocratic power over others. Egalitarian and accountable structures promote universal access to power.

If the flow of the meeting is breaking down or if one person or small group seems to be dominating, anyone can call into question the technique being used and suggest an alternative.