The Promise of the Next Ecosystem of Change
In times of social, political, and economic upheaval, we find ourselves asking, “What’s going on?” “How did this happen?” and “What do we need to do to stop it?” These questions are rooted in a deep experience of the moment as a great deviation from what we understood as acceptable, just, normative, and right. It may feel as if such deviations occurred overnight, but the truth is that a particular environment has been at work for decades if not centuries for such changes to take hold.
A term I have found useful to describe this layered social, political, and economic environment that structures our existence is ecosystem, a term customarily associated with ecological practice and debate. Ecosystems describe the conditions in which organisms survive in relation to one another. An ecosystem is neither inherently good nor bad. But it is inherently interdependent.
When we ask who is a part of building this new world, we must understand that we all are.
Our current moment is a product not of a singular person or institution or ideology but of an ecosystem long in the making, a world in which white supremacy, misogyny, militarism, extreme nationalism, belief in a “natural” social hierarchy, and suppression of opposition has taken hold. The world-building consequences of this noxious ecosystem include dominance and control over others, not collaboration and stewardship with others. In this ecosystem a framework of oppression has regenerated itself through the generations. This oppressive ecosystem is supported and fueled daily by thoughts, imaginaries, systems, somatics, powers and principalities. Untangling and dismantling this interconnected web of inputs requires a systemic approach—what we need is an ecosystem of change.
Ecosystems of change are diverse networks of biotic and abiotic components of support whose common focus is to dismantle the existing system of subjugation and to nurture a society of mutual thriving. Ecosystems of change have existed throughout history, whether materialized through the Underground Railroad, grassroots fusion organizing during the first Reconstruction period, or social movements such as liberation theology, Black Lives Matter, Poor People’s Campaign, and more. These systems call for strategies that seek to disrupt and stop frameworks of oppression while simultaneously creating the environments that can hold and sustain an imagined world that is yet to be. Ecosystems of change recognize that oppression attacks minds, bodies, and spirits and therefore requires tactics and approaches that protect, heal, and care for our minds, bodies, and spirits in a sustainable, regenerative, and collective manner.
Signs of Seasonal Shift
Building ecosystems of change requires us individually and communally to reevaluate our understanding of who, when, and how we engage in renewed world-building in times of collapse, and recognize that such upheavals are not permanent but temporary, changeable. They are seasonal. They represent a seasonal shift in the world. In this particular season, marked by violence, division, and evil, we are called to see ourselves as the network of support that can bring about another seasonal shift. When we ask who is a part of building this new world, we must understand that we all are.
Every one of us has a role in the cultivation of new foundations. The idea that “others” or a “select few” are responsible for creating a new world is rooted in colonial ideology that seeks to predetermine who is equipped and capable of participating in the creation of their own reality and the reality of future generations. This type of ideology feeds an ecosystem of division and hierarchy. In an ecosystem of change, collaboration and diversity are necessary elements. It is a communal effort. Once we have determined that we all have a role in world-building, then the next question is determining when we engage in this co-creation.
Change Already Underway
We can envision this next particular seasonal shift as something akin to laying a new societal foundation. Laying a new foundation requires more work than is needed for the mere upkeep of a current one. Building a new foundation calls for a particular kind of intentionality. When preparing to lay a new foundation it is not uncommon for people to question the timing of the new work or to lack a clear notion of when to start. Questions about timing are often coupled with concerns that there is too much to do and not enough time to accomplish it.
But the truth is that we have already begun to lay the foundation for what comes next. Whether we acknowledge it or not, our daily interaction with our ecosystem communicates whether we are reinforcing, sustaining, questioning, or disrupting it, or creating something new within it. We are always influencing our surrounding ecosystem. What is unique about this season is that we are being called to reevaluate how we are going about world-building.
The new work of world-building requires reprioritization of how we operate in the world. It quite literally calls for us to reevaluate how we are giving our time, energy, and attention in our daily lives at the micro and macro level. It requires taking inventory as to how we are showing up—for ourselves and our community. I would like to propose a model for approaching world-building that draws on regenerative farming principles.
Farming the Fullness of Life
This model centers on stewardship of the earth’s ecosystem—it seeks to care for the health of the foundation, embrace biodiversification, minimize harm, and preserve the longevity of the surrounding environment. This regenerative model of world-building honors a full seasonal cycle which includes clearing, planting, watering, weeding, monitoring, waiting, and harvesting. This model reminds us that humans must work as co-creators in the world-building process—there are some elements we are responsible for (e.g., planting, monitoring), while other elements are those we share with creation (e.g., watering, weeding, harvesting), along with others where we have no involvement at all (e.g. photosynthesis). Understanding our roles within world-building can help us create ways of engagement that don’t pressure us to operate until we burn out or deplete vital resources—but instead protect our joy while holding and honoring the fullness of life … The highs. The lows. The interdependence.
When seeking to birth something new it is not enough to push against an existing system. Yes, we must push against and stop that which is causing such harm, but that alone is not enough. According to the first law of thermodynamics, we know that energy can’t be created or destroyed; it can only be transformed from one form to another. Applied to the current ecosystem, even when something is disrupted or stopped it is not destroyed. If we are serious about dismantling oppression, we must grapple with the question of what we are going to do with the remnants of what is and how are we going to transform what was into what will be.
The Power of Co-Creation
This line of thinking calls us to reimagine the world we seek to create. It calls us to engage all our senses while acknowledging the ways our imaginations are limited. The farming model comes to mind again. We may not know what the future looks like, but maybe we can imagine what it tastes, feels, smells, sounds like.
Building ecosystems of change takes time, intentionality, and creativity. It is not a ready-made, pre-determined route that will guarantee success and progress. Ecosystems of change ask us to first take stock of the ways we are contributing to the current ecosystem of oppression and eco-degradation, whether that is through our ways of thinking, the ways we treat our bodies and the bodies of others in our community, or the ways we interact with systems and institutions daily. Following this assessment we then must create individual and collective tools of disruption that challenge the ways we engage with this current ecosystem. Such tools may include known tactics of resistance and witness—protests, boycotts, political education, civil disobedience, etc. But additional tools are needed, some of which we have yet to wield and others that have yet to be created. Being a part of an ecosystem of change brings us closer to a more just and loving world. We have the power to co-create a regenerative world that cares for the future “seven generations” of creation. We have the power to build ecosystems of change.
The Rev. A. Kazimir Brown ’19 M.Div., an Itinerate Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, was born in San Francisco and called to a life of public service from early on. She earned a B.S. degree from Santa Clara University and a Master of Public Policy from the University of California-Berkeley. Vocationally working at the intersection of faith, justice, public policy, strategy, and community wellness, she has served as a budget analyst for San Francisco’s Office of the City Administrator and, most recently, as Executive Director and Vice President at Repairers of the Breach. Her work is rooted in dismantling systems of oppression and reimaging a world that truly centers the love and care for all creation.