Using Action Research to challenge the power of the system

What’s money got to do with it? Who creates the vast majority of money in the economy? A. The Treasury? B. The Royal Mint? C. Banks and Building Societies? D. The tooth fairy? What do banks say?

So What? Some Assumptions ….. The current money system is somewhere on a continuum from ‘encouraging’ to ‘necessitating’ growth There are limits to growth Based on these assumptions …… There is a view that traditional financial institutions are a significant part of the system that is driving the growth that is reducing sustainability

My ‘inquiry’ How do I engage the directors of a large financial institution in a conversation about the inherent unsustainability of the business they run (and are passionate about) ?

The Power of the System? Dimensions of ‘Power’ (Cynthia Hardy) 1. Decision making power 2. Non-decision making power 3. Symbolic power (used to make sure conflict does not arise) 4. The power of the system – works to ‘produce certain advantages without being consciously mobilised’ is about ‘unconscious acceptance of...values, traditions and cultures ‘ is often about supposedly ‘neutral, functional constructs’

My ‘inquiry’ reframed How do I work with them to challenge the power of a system whose power we are dimly, if at all, aware of (and from which we all benefit!) ? How do I engage with people who construct their world differently, on a topic that really matters to me ?

My Story – the process With the Executive directors ( ) Several cycles of ‘different’ reading 7 workshops at offsite meetings 4 cycles of 1 to 1 meetings Plus 10 full day sessions with different groups of people from around the business (2007) Eventually connected to The ‘Sustainable Finance’ work being convened by WWF An investigation into financial exclusion An attempt at a co-operative inquiry?

My Story – outcomes? A big step forward in terms of environmental consciousness and action An authentic desire on the part of the directors to ‘do something’, to be a ‘tempered radical’ organisation Continuing time with the executive despite the ‘credit crunch’ Organisational engagement in the ‘sustainable finance’ work And “Business as Usual”!

My story – why did they even listen? Making myself ‘vulnerable’ “Here is a truth about me – I don’t know what to do.” My journey The fact that had done, and was doing, a ‘real’ job Not preaching Personal capital – if I took it seriously, there might be something in it, and “An external would not have had the same impact.” A foot in the door (my MSc project) Inquiring ‘with’ them, not ‘at’ them or ‘on’ them And yet

My story – explicit (co-operative) ‘inquiry’?

A Question..... Do we want to pursue some kind of inquiry into the current money system and its impacts, so that we can better understand our impact on ‘sustainability’ and therefore understand what, if anything, there is that we want to be ‘tempered radical’ about what we might choose to do to accentuate the positive and mitigate the negative

Responses to the question ranged from..... “the inquiry is vital for all sorts of reasons” to “stop inquiring and come with a proposal and fast forward to what an alternative would look like”

My story – two worlds In the room at the latest workshop And a conscious parallel

The obvious can be very difficult to see

Some reflections..... This is about challenging how people construct their worlds You don’t have to be ‘CSR’ to do this - (in fact ) This is hard, detailed, work It’s hard to maintain a sense of agency (will I have made any practical difference?) What is my ‘obvious but difficult to see’? ‘Lock in’ can be in people’s heads, even intelligent, caring people’s heads