# The Process of Social Transformation

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Farzam Arbab, The Process of Social Transformation, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> The Process of Social Transformation
> 
> Farzam Arbab
> published in The Bahá'í Faith and Marxism pp. 9-20
> 
> Ottawa: Bahá'í Studies Publications, 1987
> 
> Introduction
> 
> Every theory of social change has at its foundation a set of profound and
> often implicit convictions, which must be made explicit if the corresponding
> analysis of social reality is to achieve a reasonable degree of clarity.
> Beliefs about human nature, already discussed by previous speakers, are
> examples of such convictions; another set of equally important ideas has to
> do with the role of the individual and of social structures in the process of
> social transformation. In this respect, two opposing views can easily be
> identified. At one extreme, a number of ideologies tend to seek social
> change as a mere outcome of the upgrading of the individual, be it through
> secular education and training, or through religious conversion. To these
> belong numerous religious movements that seek the solution of all human
> problems in the salvation of souls, either offered to fixed numbers, or
> finally to every human being on the planet. It is implicitly assumed by these
> groups that change in social structures will somehow be an automatic
> consequence of the salvation of a sufficient number of individuals and the
> victory of the righteous. In practice, of course, it is not difficult to find the
> righteous fully participating in oppressive social structures without even
> noticing the slightest contradiction. It is interesting to note that this type
> of ideological stand is so prevalent in the internationally supported
> development plans of the governments of many countries, plans that hope
> to overcome poverty with minimum structural change, by upgrading the
> skills of individuals through elaborate training programs and by offering
> them some means for improving their conditions, usually jobs or credit.
> 
> Views opposing this individualistic approach to social change may argue
> that the human being is entirely a product of society. No change is then
> possible unless social structures, mainly those related to matters of
> political power, are changed first. The greater social consciousness of
> adherents to such views, however, does not guarantee freedom from
> oppression either. It is possible for certain extremes to accept easily that
> ends completely justify means and to define moral codes entirely in terms
> of the objectives of the destruction of old structures, at least during the
> period of revolutionary change. This position can be further strengthened
> by the adoption of extreme views of social determinism laws of
> transformation inherent to the logic of history that shape individual and
> collective will, and when necessary, justify almost any act of violence and
> oppression.
> 
> The Bahá'í concept of social change does not fall in either of
> these two categories. We tend to see the transformation of human society
> as a result of a very complex set of interactions between profound changes
> that have to occur within the individual and deliberate attempts at changing
> the structure of society.
> 
> 10
> THE BAHA'I
> FAITH AND MARXISM
> 
> Moreover, the change of social structures is not understood as mere
> political change, it involves total change in all structures, mental, cultural,
> economic, and social, including a complete change in the very concept of
> political leadership and power.
> 
> Individuals, whose behavior is highly influenced by society do possess a
> spiritual dimension, which can be illumined by divine teachings and free
> them from the bounds of oppressive social forces. These individuals, by no
> means perfect or saved, try to walk a path of spiritual transformation
> defined by the teachings of the central figures of the Bahá'í
> Faith. This path of spiritual growth, however, is not one of individual
> salvation; it exactly implies constant efforts to create and strengthen new
> social institutions. The new structures, even when perfectly designed, may
> not function in a perfect way at first, but they do make it possible for an
> ever-increasing number of human beings to walk farther and farther on this
> path of spiritual transformation. The vision, then, is one of an iterative
> process, which unfolds within a few generations, is propelled by forces
> inherent in the very purpose of the creation of the universe, and in turn
> generates forces that continuously accelerate the processes of change,
> leading finally to what Shoghi Effendi has called an "organic change in the
> structure of presentday society, a change such as the world has not yet
> experienced."1
> 
> The spiritualization of the individual, one half of the process of social
> change, is by itself too vast a subject to be treated here. I would only like
> to discuss a little further the importance of its social dimension. It is often
> said that the acquisition of spiritual qualities and moral behavior is what
> the Bahá'í Faith has in common with all other religions. While
> this is true, a few important differences must be noted. The fact that the
> goal of religious practice is shifted from individual salvation to the
> collective progress of the entire human race is reflected in the
> Bahá'í teachings in the change of emphasis on the qualities to
> be acquired by each believer. For example, while charity, so essential to
> Christian theology is still highly praised, justice is given a far more central
> place. Bahá'u'lláh has told us:The best beloved
> of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest
> Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see
> with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of
> thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor. Ponder
> this in thy heart; how it behoveth thee to be. Verily justice is My gift to
> thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then before thine eyes.2In the same way, while tolerance
> is recommended, those attitudes that lead to unity and human solidarity are
> far more appreciated. In general, moral behavior is analyzed from the point
> of view of the achievement of human potential, individually and collectively,
> thus liberating the believer from the feelings of guilt so common in many
> religions.
> 
> __________
> 1. Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of
> Bahá'u'lláh, 2d cd. (Wilmette, Il.: Bahá'í
> Publishing Trust, 1974), 43.
> 2 Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden
> Words, tr. Shoghi Effendi (London: Bahá'í Publishing Trust,
> 1932), 5-6.
> 
> The Process of Social
> Transformation
> 11
> 
> In addition to the change of emphasis on specific qualities, the social
> dimension IS also enhanced through the expansion of the meaning of most
> qualities to include a social vision. Love includes the abolition of social
> prejudices and the realization of the beauty of diversity in the human race.
> Detachment from the world is not taught in a way that leads to idleness and
> to the acceptance of oppression; it is acquired to free us from our own
> material interests in order to dedicate ourselves to the well-being of
> others. To this expansion of the meaning of almost all qualities is also
> added a constant endeavor to acquire social skills to participate in
> meetings of consultation, to work in groups, to express opinions with
> fairness and clarity, to understand the points of view of others, to reach and
> carry out collective decisions. Thus, the path of spiritualization mentioned
> here should not be confused with one that defines goodness passively and
> produces a human being whose greatest virtue is not to harm anyone; it is a
> path to create social activists and agents of change.
> 
> This path of the spiritualization of the human being, the mystical-practical
> path of social activity and inner transformation, is described in great detail
> in the Bahá'í teachings. However, the other aspect of social
> transformation, that of the organic change in the structure of human
> society, is treated in a different way. The writings of the central figures of
> the Faith contain numerous statements and explanations of social
> principles, of laws and ordinances, as well as of institutions and processes
> of change. But many of the theoretical and practical tasks are left to be
> accomplished by the growing Bahá'í community through a
> global and constant process of consultation and scholarly inquiry into social
> reality. The final goal of the transformation is also given in the form of the
> design of a new World Order, which is to be entirely different in all its
> cultural, social, political, economic, and religious structures from the
> present order that has been called lamentably defect
> ive by Bahá'u'lláh.
> 
> The complex and intricate workings of this new World Order will be
> intimately based on the teachings of the Founder of the
> Bahá'í Faith but at the same time, much of it will be the fruit
> of the process of integration of now isolated or even hostile races, groups,
> and nations who, as they come together and unite in the same cause, become
> transformed and help transform each other and bring to the rising
> institutions of a new World Order the richness of different cultures and of
> different social thought and experience. This is an essential aspect of the
> process of social transformation as envisioned by the Bahá'í
> Faith. Its universality has two distinct dimensions: one consists of the
> original teachings of Bahá'u'lláh, who is accepted as a
> universal manifestation, revealing the deepest of principles and laws of
> human existence, and the other results from the fact that social concepts,
> institutions, and practices are organically growing from unified efforts of
> diverse peoples--Europeans, North Americans, Latins, the indigenous
> peoples of the Americas, the African tribes, the people of India and China--
> and are not based on the conditions of one people at a given historical
> moment. In the remarks that follow, each statement must be seen as
> accompanied by numerous questions that would need to be resolved
> through a great deal of individual and collective reflection and by
> challenges that must be met as the Bahá'ís actively
> participate in social action and increasingly contribute to the processes of
> change.
> 
> 12
> THE BAHA'I
> FAITH AND MARXISM
> 
> Twin Processes of Change
> 
> At a first level of generality, Bahá'ís see the organic change
> in the structure of human society as being propelled by two parallel
> processes, which have been described by Shoghi Effendi in the following
> terms:As we view the world around us, we are compelled to
> observe the manifold evidences of that universal fermentation which, in
> every continent of the globe and in every department of human life, be it
> religious, social, economic or political, is purging and reshaping humanity in
> anticipation of the Day when the wholeness of the human race will have been
> recognized and its unity established. A two-fold process, however, can be
> distinguished, each tending, in its own way and with an accelerated
> momentum, to bring to a climax the
> forces that are transforming the face of our planet. The first is essentially
> an integrating process, while the second is fundamentally disruptive. The
> former, as it steadily evolves, unfolds a System which may well serve as a
> pattern for that world polity towards which a strangely-disordered world is
> continually advancing; while the latter, as its disintegrating influence
> deepens, tends to tear down, with increasing violence, the antiquated
> barriers that seek to block humanity's progress towards its destined
> goal.3The following passage
> from The Promised Day is Come gives an indication of the range and
> the intensity of the destructive process:A tempest,
> unprecedented in its violence, unpredictable in its course, catastrophic in
> its immediate effects, unimaginably glorious in its ultimate consequences,
> is at present sweeping the face of the earth. Its driving power is
> remorselessly gaining in range and momentum. Its cleansing force, however
> much undetected, is increasing with every passing day. Humanity, gripped in
> the clutches of its devastating power, is smitten by the evidences of its
> resistless fury. It can neither perceive its origin, nor probe its significance,
> nor discern its outcome. Bewildered, agonized and helpless, it watches this
> great and mighty wind of God invading the remotest and fairest regions of
> the earth, rocking its foundations, deranging its equilibrium, sundering its
> nations, disrupting the homes of its peoples, wasting
> its cities, driving into exile its kings, pulling down its bulwarks, uprooting
> its institutions, dimming its light, and harrowing up the souls of its
> inhabitants.4It is important
> to note here that Bahá'ís do not find it necessary to
> participate in this destructive process; the destruction of the structures of
> an old world order comes about by forces that are already working within it
> and, in a certain sense, do not need any extra help. As painful as the
> destruction of a world is for every human being living in this age of
> transition, its necessity has to be accepted, since old structures that
> impede the establishment of a new world order must be swept away in one
> way or another. Thus, for example, the persistence of racism, in an age when
> it must necessarily be abolished forever, gives rise to forces that imply
> painful strife and a great deal of human sacrifice. Yet, these
> 
> __________
> 3. Shoghi Effendi. World Order of
> Bahá'u'lláh, 170.
> 4. Shoghi Effendi, The Promised
> Day is Come, 2d cd. (Wilmette, Il: Bahá'í Publishing Trust,
> 1961), 1.
> 
> The Process of Social
> Transformation
> 13
> 
> same forces gradually topple racist structures in every region, a process
> that began more than a hundred years ago has achieved a great deal both
> concretely and in terms of its influence on the convictions of millions of
> human beings and will necessarily move forward to bring down the many
> bulwarks that still remain.
> 
> The economic and political structures of human society have certainly been
> shaken by the forces unleashed through strife and struggle among classes,
> groups, and nations in the past century. Gone already are the kings and
> potentates of the nineteenth century. Many of the strongholds of
> colonialism have already been vanquished. New but inadequate structures
> that have taken the place of the old ones, originating in the East or the
> West, are in constant crisis. The economic and political relations among
> nations and within countries Continuously deteriorate while the arsenals of
> the world are being stocked with arms of increasingly destructive capacity.
> Not only do governments spend fortunes on armaments, but also in many
> countries, large numbers of people from among the masses of humanity are
> being armed, including 13 and 14-year-old adolescents. The process of the
> destruction of these structures is, of course, not a simple one. New
> economic and political empires have been and continue to be built. New
> formulas are constantly proposed, and the energies of entire generations in
> every country are spent to prove their validity. Yet, there is no doubt that
> the political and economic institutions of present-day society are only
> surviving from crisis to crisis. The process of the liberation of humankind
> from a defective world order is well under way, as every conquest or defeat
> of the contending parts shows with more clarity the utter inadequacy of any
> social organization based on the dictates of the lower nature of man and his
> insatiable desires whether for material goods or for political and economic
> power.
> 
> In the same way, the longstanding structures that have perpetuated
> inequality between men and women are also being destroyed, preparing the
> way for a very different organization of human society. Parallel to this, the
> structure of family has undergone profound changes, at times destroying
> valuable bonds and indispensable conditions for human growth, but at the
> same time, paving the way for the establishment of a new kind of family
> where the two sexes cooperate and help each other develop, and where
> children learn the skills of living as world citizens rather than being slaves
> of blind loyalty to a small nucleus of relatives.
> 
> The effects of the process of disintegration can be further enumerated to
> include religious, educational, and cultural structures, and even to touch
> upon some of the basic structures of scientific thought that have been
> cherished for the last two or three centuries as the foundation of progress
> and modern civilization The important point to be mentioned here is that,
> according to the Bahá'í interpretation of recent history, all
> these destructive processes are simply paving the way for the first stages
> of a world order described by Shoghi Effendi in the following
> terms:The unity of the human race, as envisaged by
> Bahá'u'lláh, implies the establishment of a world
> commonwealth in which all nations, races, creeds, and classes are closely
> and permanently united and in which the autonomy of its state members and
> the personal freedom and initiative of the individuals
> 
> 14
> THE BAHA'I
> FAITH AND MARXISM
> 
> that compose them are definitely and completely safeguarded.
> This commonwealth must, as far as we can visualize it, consist of a world
> legislature, whose members will, as the trustees of the whole of mankind,
> ultimately control the entire resources of all the component nations, and
> will enact such laws as shall be required to regulate the life, satisfy the
> needs, and adjust the relationships of all races and peoples. A world
> executive, backed by an international Force, will carry out the decisions
> arrived at, and apply the laws enacted by, this world legislature, and will
> safeguard the organic unity of the whole commonwealth. A world tribunal
> will adjudicate and deliver its compulsory and final verdict in all and any
> disputes that may rise between the various elements constituting this
> universal system. A mechanism of world inter-communication will be
> devised, embracing the whole planet, freed from national hindrances and
> restrictions, and functioning with marvellous swiftness and perfect
> regularity. A world metropolis will act as the nerve centre of a world
> civilization, the focus towards which the unifying forces of life will
> converge and from which its energizing influences will radiate. A world
> language will either be invented or chosen from among the existing
> languages and will be taught in the schools of all the federated nations as an
> auxiliary to their mother tongue. A world script, a world literature, a
> uniform and universal system of currency, of weights and measures, will
> simplify and facilitate intercourse and understanding among the nations and
> races of mankind. In such a world society, science and religion, the two most
> potent forces in human life, will be reconciled, will co-operate, and will
> harmoniously develop. The press will
> , under such a system, while giving full scope to the expression of the
> diversified views and convictions of mankind, cease to be mischievously
> manipulated by vested interests, whether private or public, and will be
> liberated from the influence of contending governments and peoples. The
> economic resources of the world will be organized, its sources of raw
> materials will be tapped and fully utilized, its markets will be coordinated
> and developed, and the distribution of its products will be equitably
> regulated.5The other process
> mentioned by Shoghi Effendi is one of integration and construction. It is
> clearly related to the thousands of efforts by diverse groups and
> individuals throughout the world who search for new solutions to human
> existence on this planet in all the economic, political, educational, cultural,
> and organizational realms. As far as the Bahá'í community is
> concerned, it refers specifically to building a sufficiently large and
> consolidated Bahá'í world community with its own local,
> national, and international institutions--a community that, in addition to its
> direct role, can also offer humanity a working model and provide it with
> insights into the process of the construction of a new world order.
> 
> To do justice to this last theme, a careful examination would have to be
> made of the very large number of diverse programs that occupy
> Bahá'ís at any given moment in thousands of villages, towns,
> and cities under the guidance of more than 140 National Spiritual
> Assemblies, as well as the systematic measures taken by the World Centre
> of the Bahá'í Faith to consolidate a well-organized
> 
> __________
> 5. Shoghi Effendi, Guidance for Today and
> Tomorrow (London: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1953), 167-
> 68.
> 
> The Process of Social
> Transformation
> 15
> 
> world community and, at the same time, to familiarize humanity and its
> leaders with the remedies that the revelation of Bahá'u'lláh
> offers a suffering society. Such an examination is clearly beyond the scope
> of this presentation. Instead, I would simply like to examine some of the
> processes of change that are set in motion in many of the villages of the
> world as the influence of the Bahá'í teachings expands
> systematically even to the remotest areas of the planet.
> 
> Processes of Change in Villages
> 
> There are many ways of seeing and analyzing a village. A convenient way for
> the purposes of this presentation may be to consider the large number of
> interacting processes within which the villagers carry out their daily
> activities and to examine the changes that occur in the corresponding
> structures. Depending on the nature of the village, it is easy to categorize
> activities in terms of processes such as various kinds of productive
> processes, the exchange of goods and marketing, different types of
> educational processes, a process of technological adaptation or even
> innovation, socialization, spiritual and religious processes, cultural
> enrichment, flow of information, and decision-making. Corresponding to
> each one of these processes, there are important structures, the family, the
> school, the village council, the market, storehouses, religious
> organizations, and many other formal and informal organizational patterns.
> It can easily be seen from the examination of almost any rural area in the
> world that under the influence of forces (especially from outside the
> village) these processes are becoming ineffective; village economy and
> culture is disintegrating; and the corresponding structures are proving to
> be inadequate for the exigencies of present-day life, let alone a prosperous
> and more advanced future. It may prove useful to look at the work of the
> Bahá'ís in terms of the reorientation and sometimes
> redefinition of an increasing number of these community processes as well
> as the construction of viable village structures to be coupled to the
> national and international institutions of a new world order.
> 
> Activities often begin when a number of the inhabitants of a village accept
> to walk the path of spiritualization offered by the Bahá'í
> teachings and, with the help of Bahá'ís from nearby villages
> or towns, establish a Bahá'í community. The first steps for
> the establishment of such a community, taught by their more experienced
> friends, involve the organization of the process of decision-making. Within
> the vision of the Bahá'í Faith, future villages will have a great
> deal of autonomy in the management of their social, economic, and religious
> activities. The emphasis on the decision-making process, then, results from
> the desire to initiate as soon as possible the very hard road that people,
> traditionall
> y ruled by others in almost every aspect of their lives, have to walk in
> order to become full participants in a world civilization. Three institutions
> are created to make meaningful participation of the people in their own
> affairs possible. The first is the nineteen-day feast, celebrated once every
> nineteen days throughout the Bahá'í world, during which
> Bahá'ís, in addition to enjoying spiritual enrichment and
> fellowship, consult on community matters. The second is the Local Spiritual
> Assembly of nine people elected on a yearly basis and given the task of
> guiding and serving the community, and the third is a local fund (made up of
> voluntary and private contributions by Bahá'ís), which is
> administered by the Local
> Spiritual Assembly.
> 
> 16
> THE BAHA'I
> FAITH AND MARXISM
> 
> Effective participation in these institutions implies, from the beginning,
> profound changes in the attitudes of the Bahá'ís and the
> gradual development of many new skills and abilities. The election of the
> local assembly in itself is now a highly spiritual activity, and
> Bahá'ís are taught that they need to shun the usual political
> practices of propaganda, electioneering, and the use of power to influence
> votes and opinions. The village has to learn to elect those who will guide and
> serve it with serene thoughtfulness, with prayer, and with dispassionate
> analysis on the part of each individual voter without interference from
> others. The community is taught that the elected members of the assembly
> have no individual position and that the traditional concepts of leadership
> must be totally rejected. The decisions of the assembly as a whole are
> binding, and the members are to consider their election for a year not as a
> position to be sought, but as a call to service; this is religious duty in the
> highest sense. The management of a community fund to be spent for the
> progress of the village is not a task that comes easy to most villages
> either; a long-term and persistent educational process is always needed to
> develop the necessary qualities and skills and to build up trust among the
> community members. Yet another challenge in many villages is the abolition
> of attitudes of prejudice within sometimes subtle existing social divisions
> as well as a continuous effort to establish the equality of men and women
> effectively at the decision-making level. The greatest challenge, however,
> has to do with the process of decision-making itself through the
> introduction of what the Bahá'ís call the art of consultation.
> At first glance, consultation refers to a set of spiritual qualities, attitudes,
> abilities, and skills, as well as rules and procedures, that allow for the frank
> and sincere expression of every opinion and for joint exploration of
> possibilities in order to reach consensus and a common decision.
> Bahá'ís do not divide themselves into contending groups
> according to their opinions on issues or problems that confront them. The
> whole challenge is to see one's opinion as a contribution to group
> exploration and to do one's best to bring joint decisions to as successful an
> end as possible. At a deeper level, however, consultation is much more than
> a simple art of group discussion and self-expression. It is the very
> backbone of any Bahá'í methodology of community action. It
> is group action-reflection; it is exploration of reality, experimentation,
> deliberation on concrete directions of activity as well as the principles and
> concepts that must guide it; it is raising the level of awareness, community
> self-diagnosis and self-education.
> 
> The first important task given to these local decision-making structures
> from their very inception is that of the establishment and maintenance of
> unity. This, however, is not a childish, romantic idea of brotherhood; it is a
> unity that understands self-interest and conflict but strives to transcend
> them; it is a unity that must be constantly defended, especially during this
> period of human history when the most noticeable effects of the
> disintegrating forces attacking the villages are disunity and division--into
> sects, political factions, and conflicting groups of every nature divisions
> that weaken the community and open the doors to exploitation and
> oppression. Moreover, it is well understood that the maintenance of unity,
> even in its simplest form, whi
> ch involves settling small differences among the inhabitants, points to the
> principle that the basis of the desired unity is justice. Thus, the local
> spiritual assemblies, besides being the basic structures of unity, are also
> the embryonic structures of justice, the local
> 
> The Process of Social
> Transformation
> 17
> 
> courts if you wish, and indeed "local house of justice" is the name by which
> they will come to be known in the future.
> 
> Once the basic organizational elements mentioned earlier are in place, and
> without expecting a very high degree of maturity and effective functioning,
> the thoughts of the new community and those who help it usually turn
> towards educational processes. Education often begins with simple classes
> for the development of spiritual qualities and moral values in children, and
> gradually grows to include schools of different levels as well as nonformal
> learning centres. However, it is important not to view these activities as a
> mere extension of the present educational system of the so-called
> developed world to developing rural regions. The unbridled process of
> transfer of technology and education, promoted vigorously by governments
> and churches during the past decades, has already shown its devastating
> effects in the creation of a most alarming state of hopelessness, alienation,
> and confusion among millions of rural youth who see no future for
> themselves either in the villages or in the marginal neighborhoods of the
> cities to which they are forced to migrate. It would not be an exaggeration
> to say that many Bahá'ís all over the world, while acutely
> aware of the great value of education, show profound disagreement with
> present educational practices. At the same time, it is understood by all that
> Bahá'í education has not yet come into existence and must be
> developed by the painstaking work of a few generations. Some of the
> features of the future system, however, can already be discerned.
> 
> The educational objectives that are being sought are integration of the
> spiritual and the material, the theoretical and the practical, the technical
> and the social, the sense of individual progress with service to the
> community at large, all these as opposed to the increasingly fragmented
> educational content of the present-day systems. The form of education is
> also to undergo profound change, become more participative and less
> autocratic, more consultative and based on joint exploration of nature and
> social reality. There is, moreover, an extremely strong emphasis on
> excellence, but not excellence exclusively for the children born to certain
> social classes. The educational system being sought will foster social
> justice and will fulfil all the requirements
> of universal education.
> 
> An important characteristic of the process of search for this new and
> universal education is that the corresponding efforts are well scattered
> throughout the world among diverse peoples and cultures. It does not seem
> at all, then, that this future education will be the brainchild of a few groups
> of educationalists carrying out research in isolated centers and
> universities. While there is a great deal of room for such research, the
> search for new education is taking more and more the form of a popular
> movement with roots in the most diverse set of lifestyles, consisting of an
> increasing number of formal and nonformal learning programs in which
> incremental progress is made and very small, often unnoticeable
> innovations are introduced by practitioners who may be highly educated or
> barely literate. A well-connected network of local and national
> communities, to the extent that it becomes consolidated, collects the
> knowledge that is being generated, analyzes and tests, conceptualizes, and
> slowly gains insights into the nature of a totally new educational
> process.
> 
> As educational activities, even in their most rudimentary form, get under
> way, the scope of activities in the villages is expanded to take on other
> processes
> 
> 18
> THE BAHA'I
> FAITH AND MARXISM
> 
> and structures such as health, housing, production, and infrastructure. Again,
> a detailed examination of the principles governing these activities is
> beyond the scope of this presentation, but I would like to discuss
> production, mostly because it sheds light on some of the more difficult
> challenges of the process of social transformation, which will have to be
> increasingly faced by Bahá'ís, both in villages and in urban
> centres. In order to do so, I would first like to mention very briefly some of
> the characteristics of what is usually called the peasant mode of
> production.
> 
> Alternative Economies
> 
> The first serious attempts to understand peasant economies seemed to
> have followed a model of an ideal type of peasant family that almost
> exclusively produces for its own consumption and for the reproduction of
> its own productive conditions. Later studies have clearly shown that such a
> model is too simplistic and that it hardly applies to even the remotest rural
> areas of today's society. Those who study rural societies now tend to look
> at peasant populations as highly heterogenous with diverse groups of
> people from full-time farmers to landless labourers, all engaged in a very
> complex set of interactions with the state, the private sector, and the
> market. However, in spite of this heterogeneity, a few important
> characteristics of their mode of agricultural production seems to persist
> even through the last few decades of accelerated change. There is a definite
> tendency in peasant economies towards self-sufficiency, a capacity to
> produce goods both for consumption and the market with a clear emphasis
> on the reproduction and the improvement of the conditions of production
> rather than on accumulation as an end in itself. There is a high awareness of
> risks and a tradition of the optimal use of local resources, coupled to a
> concrete set of activities to conserve resources. Peasant production
> systems all value diversity of species and include a very complex
> management of time and space unlike most monoculture systems of
> commercial agriculture. The utilization of family labour on one's own farm
> and on others' follows a far more complex logic than simple wage earning,
> work is a social process that has inherent in it interchanges with other
> families, a concept of reciprocity and social responsibility, and usually a
> deep commitment to the community. What the researchers in this field tell
> us then is that there is a logic to this mode of production quite different
> from the logic of a commercial agriculture based on the rate of return on
> investment, or that of an agricultural operation planned by the state to
> produce cheap and abundant food for urban areas and industrial workers.
> 
> My purpose here is clearly not the defense of peasant economies, which at
> best offer meager subsistence to people, but I would like to make two
> points on the basis of this short description. The first is that economies
> with different "logics" are quite possible, and the only choices open to
> humanity are not the capitalist and socialist modes of production, both of
> which are products of two or three hundred years in the history of the
> European people. There is no doubt that peasant economies are defective
> and that there is no use romanticizing present and past peasant societies.
> But why should a mature humanity not be able to develop an economy with a
> totally new logic that is not based on greed or false precepts of absolute
> equality, that allows reasonable freedom yet promotes and safeguards
> justice? Moreover, why should the village Bahá'ís, in
> 
> The Process of Social
> Transformation
> 19
> 
> their attempt to move forward, follow dreams of false modernization and
> become converted to the logic of one of the two dominant world
> ideologies?
> 
> This is exactly the second point I would like to emphasize. The best option
> for the villagers is indeed to understand the strengths and weaknesses of
> their own past and present economic system and then move forward and
> build on their own strengths. In doing so, they would incorporate into their
> schemes certain structures such as the village store with its unique
> functions in the abolition of extremes of wealth and poverty, as described
> in the writings of the Bahá'í Faith. Other elements may be
> borrowed from capitalism or socialism. The majority of the structures,
> however, would have to be discovered through a long process of
> experimentation and in conjunction with the changes that they gradually
> bring about in important processes of community life other than production.
> Their search for the elements of a new village economy, it should be
> remembered, is only meaningful when it is seen as a contribution to the
> larger global effort to discover a world economy entirely different from
> the present one, not only in its operation but also in its very logic and
> underlying purposes.
> 
> Knowledge and Structural Change
> 
> As a village community consolidates, its institutions develop the capacity
> to work on more and more of the processes of community life, and to
> establish and strengthen the corresponding structures. It is important,
> however, not to confuse this entire transformation process with what is
> usually known as the community development approach to rural
> development. Ours are not attempts to organize the poor in order to make
> integration into the present world system easier. To repeat what has
> already been said, the Bahá'í attempt is to set in motion a
> process of profound change both in the individual and in social structures;
> this implies very different attitudes towards the present order than
> community development programs have usually shown and involves a
> totally different set of challenges. I would like to conclude by discussing
> one of these challenges related to the process of generation, accumulation,
> and application of knowledge.
> 
> Any theory of change, if it claims to be a significant departure from current
> theories, must have its own theory of knowledge. The Bahá'í
> writings are rich in the detailed discussion of the question of knowledge, its
> sources, its nature, the limitations of human knowledge, and some of the
> mechanisms and conditions for its validation and accumulation. A discussion
> of a theory of knowledge based on the Bahá'í teachings is
> well beyond my abilities and beyond the limits of this conference. Yet, it is
> important to remember that in all kinds of activities mentioned here,
> Bahá'ís are explicitly working at important changes in the
> process and the structures of knowledge generation. Just to take the case
> of technological knowledge, where much of the flow today is from centres in
> the North to the people in the South, there is a clear tendency among
> Bahá'í programs to respect the technological logic and the
> knowledge base of all people. Villagers who become Bahá'ís
> are taught to look at their own past with more confidence. This becomes the
> starting point for the creation and the recreation of structures for the
> cultural expression of a people.
> 
> The best known example of such efforts in recent years is the
> establishment of a number of radio stations in rural areas of South America.
> These stations
> 
> 20
> THE BAHA'I
> FAITH AND MARXISM
> 
> are not by any means instruments for the extension of dominant cultures
> (as conventional stations are) but are embryonic structures for the
> recuperation, systematization, and the subsequent progress of the entire
> knowledge base and culture of the inhabitants of a region. This represents a
> very different pattern of knowledge generation than one depending entirely
> on a selected group of elite in certain more developed countries and an
> elaborate machinery of extension and education to take the corresponding
> fruits to the rest of humanity.
> 
> Bahá'ís tend to speak a great deal about the principle of
> universal participation. What is important to understand is that the
> principle has great implications for the process of generation and
> socialization of knowledge, as well as the many other processes that
> constitute different aspects of both the spiritual transformation of the
> individual and the organic change in present-day social structures. This,
> however, is by itself a vast subject that merits careful examination on
> another occasion.
> 
> METADATA
> 
> Views36192 views since posted 1998; last edit 2012;
> 
> previous at archive.org.../arbab_social_transformation;
> URLs changed in 2010, see archive.org.../bahai-library.org
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> Scanned 1998 by Jonah Winters.
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> Shortlink: bahai-library.com/223
> Citation: ris/223
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> — *The Process of Social Transformation (Used by permission of the curator)*