Psychology at the Heart of Social Change: Developing a Progressive Vision for Society

Front Cover
Psychology at the Heart of Social Change: Developing a Progressive Vision for Society
Copyright information
Dedication
Table of contents
Acknowledgements
1 Introduction: Progressive politics needs therapy
	The challenge for progressives
	Plan for the book
	A psychology-informed progressive vision
	Beyond social determinism
	Understanding human needs and wants
	A radical acceptance of the other: the principle of psychological equality
	A humanistic psychological perspective
	Understanding the other ‘from the inside out’
	Across the intrapersonal and interpersonal
	Who is the book for?
	My positioning
	Summing up
2 A psychology-informed progressivism v1.0: socialist humanism
	A humane Marxism
	What does it mean to be human?
	Alienation
		False needs
		False consciousness
	A return to full humanity
	Critical reflections
		The a-humanism of socialist humanism
		A missing model
		Is socialist humanism still relevant?
	Summing up
3 Understanding people: a contemporary framework
	The agentic human being
		Needs and wants as ‘in-the-world’
	Higher-order and lower-order needs and wants
	What do people most fundamentally need and want?
		Physiological needs
		Safety
		Pleasure
		Growth
		Relatedness
		Autonomy
		Self-worth
		Meaning and values
		Critical reflections
			How do these highest-order needs and wants relate to each other?
			A ‘web’ of highest-order needs and wants
			A tentative list
			Cultural and social factors
			Individual variations and freedom to choose
			What does this all mean for progressives?
	Summing up
4 Wellbeing and distress: a directional account
	Wellbeing and the realisation of needs and wants
		A sense of direction
		Attainability
		Approaching
		Appreciation
		Discussion
	Limited external resources
	Inner conflicts: when what we want is not what we want
		Inner conflicts and limited external resources
		Developing cooperative solutions
		Discussion
	Ineffectiveness: when we are not good at getting what we want
	Unrealistic expectations
	Summing up
5 Conflict and cooperation, inside and out
	Levels of organisation
	Directionality across levels of organisation
		Basic Human Needs theory
	Wellbeing across levels of organisation
		Preference utilitarianism
		Enhancing wellbeing across levels of organisation
	Conflict at different levels of organisation
	Cooperation at different levels of organisation
		Couples therapy
		Mediation
		International conflict resolution
		Discussion
	Game theory
	Summing up
6 Common principles of positive change
	See the ‘bigger picture’
		Mentalisation
		A ‘universal’ moral standpoint
		Principled negotiation
		Capitalism as a rogue goal
		Fascism as a rogue goal
		Ecocide as a rogue goal
		Discussion
	Take responsibility
	Trust
	Be nice
	Prize diversity and difference
	Be assertive
	Communicate
		Understanding the needs and wants of the other
		Finding cooperative solutions
		Humanising the other
		Genuine dialogue
		Written agreements
		When communicating makes things worse
		Discussion
	Be fair
		Equality: lowering overall good
		Equality: increasing overall good
		What kind of fairness?
			Fairness as an equal start
			Fairness for the most disadvantaged
			A multiplicity of ‘goods’: complex equality
		Power
		Democracy
		Discussion
	Summing up
7 Making it happen: concrete strategies for a psychology-informed progressivism
	Positive parenting
		Why positive parenting for progressives?
		Principles of positive parenting
			Attachment
			Respect
			Proactive parenting
			Empathic leadership
			Positive discipline
		Parent training programmes
		Action points
	Social and emotional learning
		Why social and emotional learning for progressives?
		Principles of social and emotional learning
			Self-awareness
			Self-management
			Social awareness
			Relationship skills
			Responsible decision making
		Implementing social and emotional learning
			Specific programmes of social and emotional learning
			Whole-school approach
		Action points
		Nonviolent communication for all
		Basic principles of communicating to others
			Observations
			Feelings
			Needs
			Requests
		Receiving the other
		Limitations of nonviolent communication
		Action points
		Emotionally literate politics
		From a politics of blame to a politics of understanding
		Action points towards a politics of understanding
			Take the first step
			Accept and value the other
			Try to understand the other
			Engage in genuine dialogue
			Be honest
			Show vulnerability
			Develop self-awareness
			Develop self-compassion and self-care
	Developing a wellbeing economy
		What is a wellbeing economy?
		Wellbeing metrics and their application
		Wellbeing economies in action
		Action points
	Summing up
8 The further future: envisioning a progressive utopia
	Utopian thinking in progressive politics
	What is a utopia?
	Utopia as the realisation of needs and wants
	Physiological needs
	Safety
	Pleasure
	Growth
	Relatedness
	Autonomy
	Self-worth
	Meaning and values
	Directionality, itself
	Summing up
9 A day in utopia
10 In conclusion …
	Political collaboration
	A ‘wellbeing’ party?
	A moral arc
	Towards a more comprehensive, coherent, compelling progressivism
	Summing up
Notes
Index