Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds

Chapter 6 presents the nonlinear and iterative elements of emergent strategy, stating that they directly influence the speed and organizational approaches that social movements adopt when effecting change. Nonlinear refers to the way community organizing might not look like a typical action plan with goals and benchmarks, and that things will alternatively get better and get worse. In this context, iterative means learning through repetition. brown proposes these elements as alternatives to common capitalist models of progress that prioritize singular goals and one-dimensional methods. The author once again grounds the elements in qualities observed in the natural world, specifically the continuously chaotic essence of nature and its cycles.

This chapter includes four texts brown wrote on her experiences with grief and in the Occupy Wall Street movement. First, she delves into the realm of emotions and feelings within the context of social work. She candidly shares her experiences of emotional overwhelm and grief. She underscores the importance of embracing the messiness and complexity of feelings, emphasizing that they too follow nonlinear trajectories. With this, she encourages movements to hold space, honor, and validate the diverse range of its members’ emotions.

While recounting her first experience with the Occupy Wall Street movement, brown recognizes positive examples of nonlinear approaches and organizing on multiple fronts.