A Relational Lens
As a change approach based on a relational/ecological ontology, we view individuals, communities, organizations and movements as a LIVING RELATIONAL ENTANGLEMENT.
This view holds that relationships between these entities are more fundamental than the entities themselves. That is, these systems emerge, develop and thrive through their meaningful, inclusive and enduring engagement with each other.
From this perspective, we see human beings as radically prosocial animals, and resilience (ecological, social and individual) as dependent on having an intentional culture of care, complex inclusion, and shared leadership.
Pushing back on anti-relational values
This relational worldview directly contradicts the foundations of the culture of individualism, which sees the world as made of isolated, self-made individuals that are selfish, materialistic, and utility-maximizing, with no primary relationships nor meaningful engagement with community, land, or history.
Together with the resurgence of fascism and supremacist culture globally, these anti-relational values are threatening our planet and all its people.
Despite working to transform these toxic values, we still have to contend with the harm of dominant culture in our own lives and relationships. We have to grapple with the challenges of collaborating and coping with enormous complexity. This is where relational culture practice has a profound offering for those communities who are working for change, but still need to figure out how to protect their relationships in the process.
Change in Practice
These practices are rooted in a theory of change that targets a continuous and collectively maintained relational brain rewiring. Our aim is to change and revise the deep structures and frames of language and behavior (our unconscious bias) that we can only access through working in connection. We see resilience as a community’s collective capacity to enrich an intentional culture with relational resources.
Cultivating key resources:
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Supportive, Caring & Distributed Dependency/Dependability
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Sensitivity to Connection, Felt Experience & Embodied Resilience
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Complex & Sustained Inclusion and Space for Meaningful Contribution
Our Theoretical Roots
Our work is part of the field approaches that are standing with the relational cultures of the world and for a relational ontology in these times of utter destruction. Our particular analysis, approach and tools are rooted in our integration of relational gestalt theory, community organizing, developmental somatic education and social neuroscience.
An enormous influence on our commitment to a relational ontology also comes from important chapters of our own stories, including early experience in the powerful mutual aid models of the AIDS movement, as well as training with Mexican and South American indigenous movements and healing traditions, particular the Zapatista movement of Mexico, who modeled the crucial practices of building radically inclusive solidarity across global movements, and the Kichwa and Shuar healers of the Amazon and Andes, who imparted formative knowledge about the relational nature of healing and repair.