Unit 2: Context

Members of a women’s group celebrate the success of their garlic project. The women have led efforts to reduce disaster risks and bring essential services to their community. Beldandi municipality, Nepal.

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Four women in brightly coloured clothes kneel on the ground. They smile as they throw petals in the air.

Members of a women’s group celebrate the success of their garlic project. The women have led efforts to reduce disaster risks and bring ...

In this unit we will focus on looking at the context of change; what are the factors affecting change, and the formal and informal spaces where change happens?

We will look at a range of different examples from around the world to help us to understand how variations in the context for change have implications on the strategies and tactics you should or could use as changemakers.

You will take some time to think more deeply about the change that you would like to focus on. Change may be about making progressive advances in laws, policies, norms or practices, but it could also be about resisting negative change occurring as a result of other factors, like attacks on human rights or the powerful few pursuing their own interests. By understanding the context of this change, you can begin to identify what specific actions you could take to contribute towards making the change happen.

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The graphic depicts eight equal-sized circles. At the centre is circle one and the seven other circles orbit around this central circle. Arrows point between the central circle and the outer circles. In the central circle it says Unit 1 understanding ourselves and our own assumptions. The outer circles have the following text. Unit 2 understanding context and how change happens. Unit 3 systems and power. Unit 4 collective action, changemaker characteristics. Unit 5 influencing, power mapping, partners and allies. Unit 6 influencing strategies, messaging and stories. Unit 7 campaigning tactics, action plan, risks. Unit 8 reflection, adaption, overcoming challenges. The Unit 2 circle is coloured green and all the other circles are coloured blue. This emphasises that you are on Unit 2 of the course.

Fabeha Monir, a visual journalist on assignment for Oxfam in the Rohingya refugee camps, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

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A journalist stands in the rain. He is dressed in full PPE. In one hand, he holds an umbrella over his head, while he takes a photo with a camera he holds in the other.

Fabeha Monir, a visual journalist on assignment for Oxfam in the Rohingya refugee camps, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

Analysing the external context is an important early step in understanding how change could happen on your issue and what your contribution could be. It encourages us to observe current trends, while also looking out for emerging issues. It enables us to take advantage of external opportunities for change, whilst also being conscious of the obstacles that exist. It is an exercise we should be reviewing regularly to stay alert to changes in the external environment and to help us adapt to them.

There are many ways of doing this. One well-known approach is to identify the political, economic, social and technological factors or trends that might affect the way change happens on the issue you are interested in.

This is known as a PEST analysis. It can also include an analysis of the legal and environmental trends (known as a PESTLE). These tools can be used to identify the national or global factors impacting on a specific change issue but can also be used and adapted to the local context for community-focused change issues. In the table below we have given you a few examples of the factors you may wish to consider, but there are many more.

Remember an exercise like this is your own understanding of the context. People from other backgrounds and walks of life may have very different perspectives on the same context, and see opportunities where you see constraints, or the other way round. It is also important to remember that gender and intersecting identities are key considerations as we understand a PEST analysis. The more you can reach out to gain a diversity of perspectives when undertaking your context analysis, the more relevant and effective your changemaking efforts are likely to be.

In the next step we will be using a different analytical tool to help us think more clearly about how and where change happens and how we can map out a strategy for change. This will help inform what specifically needs to change and where we should put our energies as changemakers. This change analysis tool considers what the individual and systemic factors affecting change are, and the formal and informal spaces where change happens.

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Transcript

NARRATOR:

The top two boxes, or quadrants, deal with individual change. The top left is about change within the individual, like awareness of our rights or our own confidence.

The top right is the individual’s access to resources to make change happen. The bottom two quadrants represent changes that happen in society as a whole or within the system.

Bottom left is focused on changing people’s attitudes on issues or social norms that influence behaviour and practices more widely.

The bottom right is about changing laws and policies within formal institutions whether at local level or national and global. For example, imagine applying this change analysis tool to look at the kinds of changes needed to address climate change at the individual, systemic, informal, and formal level. All four of these quadrants are important for change to be significant and sustained. Different individuals and activist organisations will have different strength in influencing in each of the quadrants. Evidence shows that if action is taken within multiple quadrants, change will come about more quickly and be more lasting.

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Watch the video to view a change analysis tool that can help you understand how change happens. The tool was developed as a way to think about gender equality, highlighting the ‘rules’ held in place by power dynamics within communities and to map a strategy for change. It is adapted from ‘Gender at Work’ by Rao, Kelleher and Stuart and locates change processes in four quadrants that all influence each other.

It is a useful way to build on your initial context analysis, guiding you in what questions to ask to better understand the issue you want to tackle, to recognise if change is already happening, and steering you in how you can foster change in a number of different ways. It presents a model of how change can happen.

There is an inter-connectedness between the different types of change in each of the four quadrants and change in one quadrant can influence or help change in other quadrants. Often all four of these quadrants are important for change to be significant and sustained. An assumption in this model is that if action is taken within multiple quadrants, change will potentially come about more quickly and ultimately be more lasting.

It is the task of the changemaker to identify where it is best to focus efforts across or within the quadrants to contribute to the positive changes that we want to see happen. It may be that certain quadrants are being adequately addressed by other groups in society, leaving the concerned activist to focus on where they can add most value to the challenge at hand. Different individuals and activist organisations will have different strengths in influencing in each of the quadrants. Different stages in the change process will generally require greater focus on certain quadrants, and less attention to others.

Sometimes using this tool helps identify areas of change that we might not have expected to be relevant but which are actually important to consider.

As another example of this change analysis tool being applied to a real world issue, take a look at FRIDA’s ‘garden of change’. It looks in depth at the problem of young feminist leadership being undervalued and unrecognised in local social justice movements and what can be done to address this. Each quadrant identifies how greater access to resources and changed policies, attitudes, and norms can all contribute to a change wherein young feminist organisers are central to change movements.

The map below features a selection of change stories involving individuals and communities all over the world, addressing changes in all areas of the four quadrants.

Choose to read at least three by clicking on the pins on the map. If you have any difficulty viewing this map, please go to the downloads area below for a PDF version of these change stories.

Using the change analysis tool that we discussed earlier, consider one of the examples that particularly interests you. Here are some guiding questions which may help you think about the change processes underway, though we appreciate you will not have all of the answers from these short descriptions.

1. Was there a change in people’s awareness or belief that change is possible?
2. Was there a change in peoples’ collective capacity to achieve change?
3. Was there a change in formal institutions (policies, laws, rules, regulations)?
4. Was there a change in informal cultural norms, attitudes, values and behaviours, etc.?
5. Did the change happen as a result of a sudden event, or critical juncture, or was it part of an ongoing process?

Women from the Oog IDP camps, Somalia, kicking off 16 Days of Activism Campaign; Cibado, the elected camp leader, reads out key messages the different women’s fora developed to raise awareness about GBV in their camps.

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A group of women stand in a circle smiling. Many of them have their hands raised in the air clapping. A woman stands in the centre of the circle smiling. In the background, several women in the circle hold a sign (the text is illegible).

Women from the Oog IDP camps, Somalia, kicking off 16 Days of Activism Campaign; Cibado, the elected camp leader, reads out key messages ...

Making change happen is seldom an entirely peaceful process. If what you are trying to change challenges some people’s beliefs or interests, they are likely to oppose you, whether verbally or physically. Whether you are trying to achieve change at the national or local levels, you need to assess and monitor these risks and think about how you will manage them, for example, by being ready to counter verbal attacks, building solidarity or by building relationships with supporters in positions of power who can help defend against any aggression. We will cover more about assessing and mitigating these risks later in the course.

Questions to consider when thinking about conflict and risk as part of your analysis of the context include:

• Which groups of people are in conflict with each other? This does not need to be violent conflict, but what are the dividing lines along which people are separated?
• What are the issues that cause the most tensions between these groups? What are they competing over, or what drives their differences of opinion?
• How might these different groups perceive the kind of change that we are seeking to pursue? Which groups will support or resist it, and why?

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Transcript

CHIOMA AGWUEGBO:

The way we stay alive to the context around us, to the environment around us, is to ensure we’re constantly keeping people at the centre. One of the key things I’ve learned about advocacy in the 30 plus years I’ve been doing this work is that we must never forget the people for whom we came outside. So, if we’re advocating for women and girls, we constantly stay in touch with them to ensure that we are not working outside what they need. Because sometimes, as advocates, you have a great idea. You have great intentions.

But ultimately, the core users or the core people for whom this advocacy is intended can be lost in all of the protests and writing of letters and engaging with government or duty bearers. So, we try our best to stay true and stay accountable to the communities within which we work.

HADEEL QAZZAZ:

Being attentive to change requires practice. But also, it comes with experience and with facing different situations. However, I grew to learn that you could be prepared. You could actually prepare yourself if you have some analysis of the context around you. So start to plan ahead. If you are doing an act or an activity, having plan B and plan C always ready, being alerted by the slightest observation if anything changes around you.

OUDAI TOZAN:

My focus is on the diaspora, on the exile, on displacement. And one thing that helps me to keep aware of the changes happening in that context is to try to embed myself as much as possible in that context, to always stay connected with people who are experiencing similar things, people who have similar journey, to try to just understand them, and not only on the personal level, to embed myself and connect with people who have a similar interest, but also to try to keep myself informed and how things changing between the Syrian diaspora.

HADEEL QAZZAZ:

Also, learning from experience. Because if you successfully or unsuccessfully went through a situation, you need to draw lessons and to be prepared for next time. So, making sense and sense making is something that is very important in a changing context.

ELENA MEJIA:

To acknowledge that there will always be conflict, because we come from different backgrounds. We have, even sometimes different interests. And most of all, we have different views on how to solve a problem.

OUDAI TOZAN:

Not everyone believes in this change, or they don’t see the need for change. So, it’s very important to try to engage with people, to change their consciousness of the matter, of the cause that you’re doing. This dialogue is what helps people to come to consciousness around the issues that we’re fighting for.

ELENA MEJIA:

When conflict arises inside of a collective that has the same objectives, it’s actually very healthy. But if we don’t address it, if we pretend that there is no conflict, if we speak of our sorority, or if we speak of a sisterhood or a brotherhood or whatever without acknowledging conflict, then many, many troubles can arise.

ART REYES III:

At times, there can be folks who kind of show up and believe they know all of the answers, or that there is one pure right way. And I think it’s a falsehood in this world. So for us, unless we’re showing up with humility and grace and learning with our people, we won’t actually be doing the work necessary to build the leadership necessary to create change. And part of that is holding productive tension, holding space for conflict, holding space for us to be able to grapple with the issues that our communities are facing.

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In this video we meet Chioma and Hadeel who share their experience of staying alert to and adapting to the changing context around the issues they are working on.

Oudai, Elena and Art also share their perspective on navigating conflict when working on change.

Having gone through your context analysis and got to know the change analysis tool, this is the opportunity for you to decide more specifically what the change you would like to see would look like in more concrete terms.

Having a clearly defined change goal will help you:

• Frame your change in a more specific way
• Identify specific objectives or key steps to achieve your goal
• Spot key stakeholders who have influence over what you want to achieve
• Determine your strategy and the tactics you will employ
• Develop your plan of action
• Monitor and evaluate your progress towards achieving your change goal and objectives
• Keep motivated throughout the highs and lows and to motivate others to join you.

We suggest you continue to use the change analysis tool we introduced earlier and apply it to your issue in order to help define the steps you and others will need to take in order to achieve change – your change objectives.

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At the top of the vertical y axis is 'individual and collective change', at the bottom is 'systemic change'. On the far left of the horizontal x axis is 'informal' and on the far right is 'formal. In the top left quadrant, indicating informal individual and collective change, a box says 'change in people's knowledge, skills, confidence and commitment'. In the top right quadrant, indicating formal individual and collective change, a box says 'people accessing resources (voice, services, support, money, etc.) and organising together to make change happen'. In the bottom left quadrant, indicating informal systemic change, a box reads 'Change in ideas, beliefs and social norms, behaviours and exclusionary practices in society at large'. Finally, in the bottom right quadrant, indicating formal systemic change, a box reads 'Changes at institutional level, e.g. laws, policies and practices of governments, businesses and other institutions in society'.

Consider the statements in each of the four quadrants and how they relate to the various challenges you need to address to achieve your vision of change – your change goal. Look at the different types of change at different levels, such as in policies, in resources, in norms and attitudes, and within individual’s awareness. What needs to change at each level to achieve your overall goal? In most cases changes will need to occur in more than one quadrant, although you might choose to focus on one area. That would be your contribution.

In order to identify your change objectives, take a look at the table below. Begin by confirming your change goal at the top. This should summarise your vision for change in a single sentence. For example, a change goal might be ‘Providing equal access to quality education for girls in my country’.

Then, for each area, write down some ideas which show how change could be achieved. These could become your change objectives. If you are struggling to identify an objective in one or more of the quadrants, don’t worry, not all change processes span across all four quadrants. The process of reflection and coming to this conclusion should be useful in itself.

So for the example change goal of girl’s education, the change objectives might be:

We can achieve more equal access to quality education for girls by:

• abolishing school fees and making education free and compulsory for all children
• shifting attitudes that create barriers for girls attending school, such as early pregnancy and child marriage
• local communities, mothers and girls themselves collectively advocating for better access
• local schools and classrooms having the commitment and resources to become more gender sensitive (e.g. sanitation and menstrual hygiene facilities).

Oxfam supporters and staff at Oxford Pride march on Saturday 4th June 2022.

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Hundreds of people walking through the streets of Oxford. Many wear Oxfam shirts, wave Oxfam flags or carry Pride flags.

Oxfam supporters and staff at Oxford Pride march on Saturday 4th June 2022.

In this unit you have had an opportunity to think about how change happens at different levels, in formal and informal spheres, within individuals, and in systems (institutions, governments, policies, practices). The change analysis tool has helped us to look differently at a range of change stories from around the world.

Through the exercises, you have thought more deeply about your overall change goal, developed a better understanding of the context of change, used the change analysis tool to consider what might need to change across different areas to meet your goal, and finally you finished by identifying some change objectives.

In the next unit we will drill down further through a power and systems approach. This will help you to identify which approach is most likely to work and help you to focus your efforts to make change happen to best effect.

In Unit 2 of this course, the topics have been – understanding the context of change and the change you would like to see.

Now test your knowledge on what you have learned with this short quiz.

FRIDA Young Feminist Fund (n.d.) Garden of Change, [Online]. Available at: https://youngfeministfund.org/ GardenofChangeA.html (Accessed 15 August 2023).

Introduction to Systems Thinking (24 January 2023) YouTube video, added by From Poverty to Power (Oxfam) [Online]. Available at: https://youtu.be/ bYydvwaRuqw (Accessed 15 August 2023).

Meadows, D.H., (2008) Thinking in Systems: A Primer, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing.

Rao, Kelleher and Stuart, Gender at Work framework, [Online]. Available at: http://genderatwork.org/ analytical-framework/ (Accessed 15 August 2023).

Wilber, K. (2000) A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for Business, Politics, Science and Spirituality, Boston, Massachusetts: Shambala.