The Social Change Collection shares the experience of people who sought to alter the course of history in the latter half of the Twentieth Century. Three decades on, the papers themselves seem musty and some of the language is off-putting at first glance., but the life experiences described are much with us today.
Those people lived in a chaotic, crowded, rapidly changing world; struggled to understand the complexity of the social interactions policies and institutions shaping their lives; took the responsibility to decide on behalf of all what was needed and to act on those decisions; developed methods and internal resources that made them effective and gave them the courage to care; and reached out in Global Campaigns to offer their experience to every continent on the planet. So must we, and more so.
These documents chronicle the sixty-year evolution of a global social reform movement dedicated to grassroots empowerment and spiritual innovation. Beginning with urban activism in Chicago, the records track a transition from traditional religious frameworks toward a “New Social Vehicle” that emphasizes community-based development and participatory governance. The archives detail the implementation of strategic methodologies, such as the Technology of Participation, which were deployed across every continent to address poverty and sustainable growth. Through international summits and research assemblies, the movement fostered collaborative leadership and ethical systems designed to meet modern societal challenges. Ultimately, this collection serves as a historical blueprint for integrated human development, showcasing a transition from local neighborhood action to a unified planetary vision.
The intent in this collection is to offer you, the searcher, a taste of our experience so you can choose to: explore the resources which document this intriguing history for wisdom and courage and engage today in your situation with those around you.
We stand beyond our life and see,
We stand beyond our death and really see,
What’s required of those who give their death to history;
And it is now that we must do
What other ones must always seek to be,
To discover what’s required of us
To set all free.
A time to set forth a new demand,
A time to look into the past,
For without “what has been,” there is no “yet to be;”
Nothing that we do then could last.
The global task now has claimed our lives,
Who knows where our bodies they shall find?
But with us, anew, now the mystery appears,
The meaning of the life of humankind.