A Three-Fold Theory of Social Change and Implications

We need good theories of social change for building the thinking of all involved in processes of development, as individuals, as communities, organizations, social movements and donors. The conventional division in the world today between policy-makers and practitioners is deeply dysfunctional, leaving the former ungrounded and the latter unthinking. Good concepts help us to grasp what is really happening beneath the surface. In the confusing detail of enormously complex social processes, we need help to see what really matters.

Reeler notes that for the most part agency project design, management and evaluation are based on an implicit assumption that the problem they seek to solve can be simplified into a logframe or results framework, asserting simple cause and effect linkages. Reeler takes a wide view systems approach, and presents three broad types of social change: Emergent Change, Transformative Change, and Projectable Change. For emergent change, he quotes an African proverb "We make our path by walking it", whereas transformative change occurs in response to crisis, and involves a process of ‘unlearning', as dysfunctional institutions and systems are reformed or replaced.

The third type of social change is characterized as a problem-based and creative approach, planning for an envisioned future. Analysis of the specific political and social context through the lens provided by these three broad types of social change should inform program strategies, design, and practice.