Systems Change

Justice plus onto-shift is our approach to narrative-led systems change. 

In order to transition out of the metacrisis, we need to address structural inequities – challenging systems of oppression, redistributing power, and repairing harm. This is the work of Justice.

But on its own, Justice isn’t enough.

To truly move beyond the systems that created the metacrisis, we need a concurrent shift in ontologies —a deep change in the very ways we view, understand, sense, relate and engage with the world. That means rethinking the very foundations of reality: what we value and how we understand our place in the web of life.

We need to marry demands of justice with an ontological shift. As Philosopher Bayo Akomolafe has noted: “Demands for social justice may get us a seat at the table, but they will never let us leave the house of modernity.” To leave the house of modernity, we need new ontologies.

An example of a narrative that illustrates “Justice plus onto-shift” is “land back to right relations,” which disrupts the norm of land ownership.

This new narrative contributes to achieving both justice (“land back”) and a onto-shift (“right relations”). 

1.  Justice: “Land back” refers to the anticolonial social movements demanding redistribution of power and systems transformation, through reparations and retribution. 
   
2. Onto-shift: “Right Relations” align with the “all my relations” philosophy present in numerous Indigenous cultures which  underscores the interdependence of all beings, emphasizing our duty and mutual exchange within relationships. 

This is the reframed narrative of an example we will use throughout this curriculum to illustrate the CHL method: the Territories of Transition (TOT) narrative intervention, launched in 2023, that called for the return of land from the enclosures of colonialism and capitalism to new patterns of radical relationality. It was led by Culture Hack Labs and a group of leading BIPOC and Indigenous activists to form a community-of-practice. The actual intervention of the campaign is still ongoing.

NEXT STEP: Now you have had an introduction to CHL’s approach to Narrative-led Systems Change – let’s start the Hacking method: ASK – Develop your Point of View.