FROM TUNISIA TO OCCUPY AND BEYOND: THE NEW WAVE OF SOCIAL CHANGE, PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE - Chapter 1 - analysis of a systemic response to global unrest

Aug 25, 2026

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The chapter analyzes a global wave of protests and unrest originating in Tunisia, placing it in historical context and treating it as a systemic response to an increasingly maladaptive social field. It contrasts the current wave with the 1960s–70s change efforts, arguing that organizational failure and unrecognized design principles limited transformative outcomes. Drawing on data from Search Conferences, it traces active maladaptions and resulting elite–people distance, then examines conditions for the wave’s success through adaptive organizations and communities.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages67

Reading Time2 h 49 min

AccessFree to download

Chapter 1: FROM TUNISIA TO OCCUPY AND BEYOND: THE NEW WAVE OF SOCIAL CHANGE, PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Abstract

Introduction

In: Advances in Sociology Research. Volume 14 ISBN: 978-1-62948-375-7 Editor: Jared A. Jaworski © 2013 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. No part of this digital document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted commercially in any form or by any means. The publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this digital document, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained herein. This digital document is sold with the clear understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, medical or any other professional services. Chapter 1 FROM TUNISIA TO OCCUPY AND BEYOND: THE NEW WAVE OF SOCIAL CHANGE, PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE Merrelyn Emery Concordia University, Department of Applied Human Sciences, Montreal, Quebec, Canada ABSTRACT Many have commented on the wave of protests and unrest that has recently gripped the world. However, most commentators have treated this wave a-historically and many have proposed single factor causes although the wave has taken quite different forms on the various beaches on which it has landed. This article examines the current wave in its historical context and also analyses it asa systemic response to an increasingly maladaptive social field. It first examines the last great wave of social change, that wave that occurred during the 1960-70s. The reason for the failure of that wave to ‗change the world‘ is found to be an organizational failure caused by lack of knowledge of the powerful, genotypical design principles which underlie all organizations. These principles affect our propensities to compete or cooperate, act out of self-interest or with responsibility for the commons. The failure of that wave raises the question of the success of this one. The 1960-70‘s wave not only failed, it also intensified efforts to reduce, if not destroy, ‗people power‘. The paper traces a range of efforts that incorporated all of the active maladaptions as shown by data collected from years of Search Conferences around the world. Some efforts such as the adoption of the theory of economic rationalism unleashed a raft of changes such as privatization, union lockouts and user pays and generally forced employees to do more with less for less. Some moves such as economic globalization proceeded rapidly while others such as the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) failed. Overall, however, the psychological and economic distances between the elites and the people, whether they be the representatives and the represented or managements and workers, widened. The people in turn responded to these active maladaptions with two opposing sets of behaviours. The data shows that some continued to search for active adaptive organizations and communities through collective ideal seeking while others produced their own set of maladaptions, those passive maladaptive behaviours that reduce relevant uncertainty and provide defences against feelings of powerlessness and anxiety. Such is the unhealthy, unpleasant and uncertain social field in which the current wave is breaking. The final section of the paper looks at the necessary and sufficient conditions for the current wave to succeed; that is for it to enable a return to active adaptive organizations and communities in which people may fulfil their destinies as the purposeful systems they are and, thereby, tame the social field into one that supports and fosters a new global culture of cooperation, wisdom and joy. INTRODUCTION This chapter examines the current wave of social change that began in Tunisia and continues to this day. This examination places the current wave of unrest in its historical context and analyses it within a multidimensional, systemic framework. The analysis shows that it is in fact, a syste

FAQs

What does the chapter argue about the nature of the current wave of protests and unrest?

It argues the wave is not merely a collection of isolated events but a systemic phenomenon and response to a maladaptive social field.

How does the chapter compare the current wave with the major social change wave of the 1960s–70s?

It states the earlier wave failed to “change the world” due to organizational failure linked to missing knowledge of core design principles, and it intensified efforts to reduce “people power.”

What evidence does the chapter use to trace forces behind the new wave?

It uses data collected from years of Search Conferences around the world to trace active maladaptations and the resulting psychological and economic distance between elites and people.

Aug 25, 2026

Uploaded by Fahsai