Empowerment on an Unstable Planet: From Seeds of Human Energy to a Scale of Global Change

295 Pages·2011·3.329 MB·English

by  Daniel C. Taylor, Carl E. Taylor, Jesse O. Taylor

Empowerment on an Unstable Planet
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Empowerment on an
Unstable Planet
From Seeds of Human Energy to a
Scale of Global Change
Daniel C. Taylor
Carl E. Taylor
Jesse O. Taylor
1
1
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Copyright © 2012 by Daniel C. Taylor, Carl E. Taylor, Jesse O. Taylor
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Taylor, Daniel C.
Empowerment on an unstable planet : from seeds of human energy to a scale of global change / Daniel
C. Taylor, Carl E. Taylor, Jesse O. Taylor.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-984296-4 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Social change. 2. Social change — Case studies. 3. Economic development — Case studies.
4. Community action. 5. Social action. I. Taylor, Carl E. II. Taylor, Jesse O. III. Title.
HM831.T39 2012
307.1’401 — dc23
2011026979
________________________________________________________
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Typeset in Chaparral Pro
Printed on acid-free paper
Printed in United States of America
DEDICATION
In hope, for generations yet to come . . .
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We lead this list of thanks with a salute to Luke Taylor-Ide who worked at the
center of the SEED-SCALE applications described in this book for both
Afghanistan and Arunachal Pradesh, India, for fi ve years. Luke is also the creator
of a parallel to this book, an information-rich online platform for learning SEED-
SCALE, to which we direct the reader’s attention: www.seed-scale.org.
Also at the high table is our now-deceased colleague Jim Grant, who, as
Executive Director of UNICEF, launched SEED-SCALE. Across the Atlantic is
our longtime colleague Halfdan Mahler, who, as Director General of the World
Health Organization, led fundamental work in community-based change for
all. Singular mention is due Patricia Rosenfi eld, Chair of the Carnegie Scholars,
a member of the original UNICEF task force, whose enthusiasm for this project
has been balanced only by the rigor of her critique. Similarly, special thanks is
due Betsy Taylor, who helped sort out dynamics within SEED; and also to
Henry Taylor, who helped in the statistical analyses over the years. Th e original
task-force members have been mentioned in our earlier volumes, and we
remain profoundly grateful to each.
Teams of colleagues around the world have contributed as well. Some are
named in the chapters, but many more are not:
In Arunachal Pradesh, fi rst thanks goes to the women’s action groups and
farmers clubs that have for more than a decade implemented SEED-SCALE in
their communities and daily lives. Among them we express individual appre-
ciation to Gegong Apang, Tage Kanno, Omak Apang, Audrey Apang, Rima
Langbia, Amko, Biri Mima, Byabang Rocket, Nani Sha, Pekyom Ringu, K. D.
Singh, Oken Tayeng, and Nalong Mize, but there are many more than these,
for such is the way with statewide social movements.
From the Afghanistan team, the wonderful women of Rostam and Saya
Dara deserve special thanks, as do Shukria Hassan, Stan Becker, Besmillah
Sakhizada, Mullah Azizi, Akbar, and others from Dehkudaidad: Said Arwal,
Ajmal Shirzai, Rajpal Yadav, Ishfaq Hussain, Hamidullah Natiq, Seija Terry,
and Chris Taylor. With great sadness, we also acknowledge our close friend
and colleague Dan Terry, who lived and worked in Afghanistan for more than
thirty years before being brutally murdered there months before this book
was fi nished.
Many at Future Generations contributed, but needing individual mention
are: Nawang Gurung, Traci Hickson, Laura Altobelli, Jason Calder, Flora
MacDonald, Rebecca Vaus, LeeAnn Shreve, Peter Ide, Mike Stranahan, Henry
Perry, Bob Fleming, Mike Rechlin, Dan Wessner, Deidre Heiner, Carol Mick,
and Bruce Mukwatu. We are grateful also to the many students in the Future
Generations Graduate School who contributed.
From the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Green Long March of China,
fi rst we thank the 1,000 P endebas who in varying ways utilize the ideas herein.
But without the extraordinary eff orts of Chun-Wuei Su Chien, there would
have been neither parks nor P endebas . Many thanks also to Caroline Hsiao
Van, Ding Zongyi, Tsering Norbu, Guangchun Lei, Cili Norbu, Robert Gibson,
and Frances Fremont-Smith. A word of recognition, also, for certain concerned
offi cials in the Communist Party in Tibet, where across three decades the
lesson learned is that it is possible to deeply disagree, yet work in relation-
ships that are highly productive for both sides. Bridging disagreement to
create forward movement is one of the attributes of SEED-SCALE.
Over the decades, these ideas have evolved and been refi ned. Helpful cri-
tiques enriched our learning from a long list of people, of whom we single out
a few: Abhay and Rani Bang; Raj, Mabelle, Shobha, and Ravi Arole; Sarah
Werner, Kevin Starr, Nazo Kureshi. And specifi cally from Johns Hopkins: Tim
Baker, Bill Reinke, Henry Mosley, Bob Lawrence, Bob Parker, Al Somer,
Anbarasi Edward, Bob Black, Reds Wolman, Ben Lozare, Edyth Schoenrich,
and Archie Golden. Th e more complete list of colleagues at the Johns Hopkins
School of Public Health is long and was very helpful.
Across what now constitutes a century of engagement by four generations,
this has also been a family dialogue. It began with John and Beth Taylor, who
left the plains of Kansas for India in 1914, a place where they worked for
thirty-three years under British rule and twenty-three years under Independent
India. Other family members with critiques and experiences who contributed
are Mary, Claire, Carter, Jennifer, Tara, and Herbert.
Th e following assisted in important ways with individual chapters or the
production of this manuscript: Lee Stuart, George Stranahan, Andrew
Mahlstedt, Ann Hawthorne. In addition, our team at Oxford University Press
has truly been the best: Nicholas Liu, Stefano Imbert, Leslie Johnson, Anindita
Sengupta, and, with special appreciation, the editor who kept pressing us on,
the patient and undaunted Maura Roessner.
Understanding continues to evolve. While SEED-SCALE is developed
enough so that we can use it, it is always developing. Shaping a better world on
our insecure planet is a journey every person now engages in, and we look
forward to sharing this with many more. Your suggestions and critiques are
welcome. A discussion blog is found at www.seed-scale.org; specifi c comments
can be sent to [email protected] or to [email protected]. We cannot list you
all, but we remain deeply grateful.
[ viii ] Acknowledgments
CONTENTS
Introduction: A Process for Change Available to All xi
1. What We Can Do With What We Have, Here, Today 3
2. Connecting to the Larger Field of Development
and Social Change 25
3. If Traditional Development Practices Were Eff ective 45
4. Th e Option Available to Everyone: Mobilizing
Human Capacity 65
5. To Grow Empowerment: Four Necessary Principles 87
6. Maintaining Momentum: Seven Tasks 113
7. Staying on Course: Th e Five Criteria of Evidence-Based
Decisionmaking 137
8. Th e Process of Going to Scale: Interaction Among
Th ree Dynamics 157
9. Th e Global Imperative of Going to Scale: Examples of
Environmental Action in New York City and China 187
10. Confronting Empire 211
Notes 229
About the Authors 261
Glossary 264
Index 267