No voice, choice or power

Introduction

In July 2025, DEAL hosted two peer-to-peer sessions exploring the topic of 'No voice, choice or power' with the purpose of exploring what it means to work with communities who feel they have no voice choice or power to change things.

The topic arose from interest across the grassroots organisers in the global DEAL community from many geographic, cultural and historical contexts, with one particular community member sharing:

"Communities that are most impacted by all the negatives of the current economic model are most likely to feel they have no voice, choice or power to change things. People living in areas of deprivation have less access to fresh food, are most likely to be negatively impacted by higher temperatures, are less healthy, with lower life expectancy, and have less access to safe, enjoyable natural space. Most commonly these communities have changes 'done to them' and are generally disengaged and can't see the point in engaging in conversations about systemic change. And to compound this issue, often the clearest ways to meet their needs ends up perpetuating global inequalities. The poor end up exploiting the poor because they can't afford and/or don't have access to more healthy and fair options."

The two sessions attracted a diverse group, both in experience and geography, with people joining from the Philippines, Australia, Hungary, UAE, Kenya, UK, the Netherlands, South Korea, Turkey, USA, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Singapore and Canada.

We touched lots of things related to the topic, but recognised this was just the start. So this story is a summary of the key themes that emerged, including the questions asked and some insights shared.

The purpose of this story is to make our conversations visible and contribute our collective experiences, questions and sense-making to the global commons of learning that is the DEAL Platform. You might find things here that are useful for you today, or in the future. And we hope that this story will also form a foundation for future peer-to-peer explorations on the topic.

If you would like, you are welcome to leave your own comments, with questions, insights and resources, at the bottom of the story. And feel free to share this with other people who you think may find it interesting or useful.

And you can find more community-focused events, tools and stories here.

The stories we live by

In these topic-focused peer-to-peer sessions, we often start with a brief look at how the topic connects with the ideas and tools of Doughnut Economics. And whilst the desire to explore this topic arose from community members who to see Doughnut Economics ideas and tools to be owned by communities that are most impacted by all the negatives of the current economic model, there is also a connection between the topic and ideas of Doughnut Economics themselves, relating to the idea of 'who we are' at the heart of 20th century economic thinking.

In chapter three of Doughnut Economics, Nurture Human Nature, we're introduced to Rational Economic Man: the human character at the heart of mainstream economic theory. "Standing alone, money in his hand, calculator in his head, ego in his heart, and nature at his feet."

Rational Economic Man was created as a model of human nature, but he has ended up as a caricature, permeating many parts of our economies today, from consumer-led markets and business education, to our relationships with each other and ourselves.

The chapter invites us to reflect on the stories we tell ourselves about who we are - the stories we live by - and to recognise how powerful these are in shaping our behaviour, our beliefs and our ability to create the world we want.

So what are the stories that shape our sense, or lack, of voice, choice and power?

There are no doubt many, but across the two sessions, three stories emerged. And whilst I use the term 'stories' here, they could equally go by other names, with the words 'stigmas', 'self-fulfilling prophecies', 'tired old narratives', and 'deeply rooted social contracts'.

The three stories that emerged were:

• the colonial 'dependency' story in the global majority (so-called global South) that tells people they have to rely on someone else;
• the 'marginalised' story in schools, education and places of learning that tells some children that they are not worthy or good enough; and
• the 'not to be trusted' resident story in the realm of local government that tells residents that they can’t make choices themselves, and that the government 'knows what’s best for you’.

And looking at these stories, we recognised they have at least two things in common:

1. They tell us we are not sufficient
2. They arise from the systems around us so they are very hard to overcome.

So who is impacted by these stories?

A double impact: material and mindset

The unjust reality is that those who have been most subject to the harms and inequities of our economies are also those most impacted by these stories: a double systemic impact of not having access to the material things needed to live well and being constantly fed a story from a mindset that believes you're not good enough to do anything about it.

The stories become internalised by the people and communities with greatest material need, so that people and communities feel they are not worthy, not good enough, and lack any power. And the stories perpetuate intergenerational trauma, leading to fear of even raising your voice.

In the sessions, people shared:

"Psychological safety is a big issue. Do you have the view that you can raise your voice? Do you have the feeling that you’re going to be heard? Do you have the feeling that you’re not going to be blamed? Do you feel safe, in a small community group, to even open your mouth and ask something?"

"It’s all part of building the trust - that someone needs to feel safe that they can raise their voice."

Together, this is an overwhelming and complex concoction of systemic injustice. So how might we approach this injustice, and how might we approach those who feel they have no voice, choice or power to change things?

Approaching those who feel they have no voice, choice or power

The two sessions attracted people who had a wide range of experiences of working with communities who feel they have no voice, choice or power and many people shared insights from their work and their experiences. And a common theme through both sessions was on the process of building relationships of trust.

Here are some of the insights and reflections that were shared, along with some quotes of what people said:

Be patient and embrace the time it takes to build relationships of trust

"Working in communities is a patient job. You have to keep going back and back and back and back and back. You won’t get people coming forward because they’re not used to being listened to."

Be aware of our own presence and how we present ourselves.

"Whilst I come from a working-class, uneducated family and have been homeless, I sound posh and educated, and I knew that could be a potential barrier for people who might then think ‘it’s alright for you, you’ve lived a nice life’. So once they know my story it shifts things. I allow them to think again about their own ideas and first impressions. So it’s about all of us being aware about what we bring to the table and willing to be authentic. Tell the truth about our experiences so that people feel safe to share their truths."

Quieten our inner voice of judgement and bring intentionally and an openness to show our vulnerability.

"It’s about coming with less judgement about what I think this situation should look like. It’s what I call the deconstruction of the whole system within us."

"When people present themselves they may come across as intimidating or scary, but it’s all about how they’ve learned to manage surviving trauma, which has been unresolved for them. So we need to raise awareness of the importance of the articulation of treating people as equal, intelligent, capable human beings, with sincerity, with unconditional positive regard (UPR), you’re more likely to build trust."

"How do we humanise each other? Remove our own narratives and belief systems. Looking at that person across the table, and we don’t really know them, we’re just making assumptions about them. How do you build that vulnerability-based trust with people who don’t know you, and frankly, maybe even have a reason to speak to you from their perspective? We have to learn to build bridges with each other, and be intentional with each other. The more intentionally we put into every interaction, the more you’re going to probably see someone responding in a little bit more of a positive manner."

Use language that people can relate with and be careful the language you use doesn't perpetuate systemic stories.

"Conservation can often feel ‘gate-kept’ through science, knowledge, ideas and theories. But the people who are trying to open the gates are also the people who hold the knowledge. So I’m looking at how can we have better conversations and engage with communities from their perspective?"

"I come to you and I call you marginalised, now you’ve been labelled and that becomes how you live."

"I / we use the word ‘marginalised’ but these communities are really wealthy, they just don’t realise that. And I think voice comes in with the idea about how you think about your own worth. You can be wealthy, you can have everything, but if you don’t believe in yourself, it doesn’t matter how much you have, you’ll still not be heard.

Building relationships of trust is foundational, and it can be done on a person-to-person basis. But what can we do in collective settings? And how might we take action with groups of people and communities who feel they have no voice, choice or power?

Spaces and practices for collective work

Looking at the context of collective work, one of the main themes of what people shared was creating safe spaces for questions:

"One of my questions for the year has been ‘how do we create space?’  ‘How do we create spaces for questioning?’ How do we sit with the ability of saying ‘OK, I might be ‘marginalised’, but what makes me really marginalised?’ Is it that I am genuinely marginalised from what is happening, or have I done that to myself?’ Where do we bring communities to take self-responsibility? So how do we create spaces enough for someone to own everything - the environment, their thoughts, their decisions, everything!"

"I am working on a project called 'Seismic questions: how to live the question'. We write questions and ideas. Then we sit and talk about them. But one thing we’re doing is creating physical spacing. So being able to practice that and facilitate that. And how people, and indigenous people, help us in how this has happened before. When there was an evolution in our community in the past, you’d always be able to see that it came from a question, it came from the fact they were able to sit in that discomfort, to the point that they were able to find a way out. So how do we allow ourselves to sit. But not just to sit in them, but to actually live that question, as a process that is still changing within us."

You can find out more about Seismic questions: how to live the question, here: https://minouschillings.com/seismic-questions-cocreated-book/.

Someone also shared that, after their many years of practicing different healing modalities, they've come to the understanding that intergenerational healing is foundational.

"We need more of an understanding of where is pain in a community and what needs to be healed. And in that healing process there’s a rebuilding of new value systems and the use of collective intelligence for the greater good."

I want to acknowledge that this is complex and skilled work, and the insights and reflections shared in these peer-to-peer sessions touch only a tiny fraction of the work.

Across the two sessions there were many other insights and experiences shared that relate to collective work:

One theme was on signalling safety...

"the first step to create a safe space is to demonstrate that it’s worth asking questions, giving feedback, raising your voice. But this is difficult because it’s rooted deeply in social contracts which are hard to modify or change. So a tip is that when the first action happens and you give positive feedback - ‘thank you for raising your voice, giving your feedback, sharing a different option…’ - it somehow starts to work."

Someone shared their experience of finding a collective focus...

"How might we downsize some of our big goals to ask ‘what’s the one thing we can all agree on?’ Because we have all these goals and all these things we want to achieve, and they’re fantastic, but can we just agree, right now, for the next two weeks, we’re going to do this very specific thing?"

And many people shared the value of approaching collective work by focusing on strengths...

"It’s about allowing them to see how much wealth they have with what they already have."

"Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) seems a good way of saying ‘stop looking at what’s wrong with communities and look at what the strengths are and build upon the strengths’. I think there’s a lot of power behind that. But it’s hard to get people to see and feel their own strengths."

This relates closely with an approach called 'appreciative inquiry' and creating spaces for questions, that you can read more about here.

However, returning to the theme of language, someone also shared that whilst Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) may have good intentions, the language was a barrier until it was community-led:

"The ABCD model was used by Bristol council and it took ages to get going as the language was inaccessible for people. They kept giving the same message to the community for years, and about 6 years in, one resident took up the offer from the council and from there her initial project - to create an allotment - soon created a further 10 in the city. Why? I believe it's because it came from the community and modelled that the community genuinely has a voice."

Approaching heritage communities

A question that is very alive for Donut Brasil, is how they can better approach heritage (indigenous) communities in their place that have alive culture from many centuries ago, that are in extinction, through the overwhelming power of the economy, that is invading, more and more, their neighbourhoods and places.

Here are some of their reflections and questions from their early stages of engagement:

After a long journey of building bridges, we’re beginning to start to work with a community that has a very strong African-American past, together with DE in Brasil and researchers in a local university. How are we going to deal with this incredible historical community that has preserved their own life for centuries. And how are we going to approach them with modern language? An open question. We may want to design an approach around peer-learning, a first phase of starting to sense and connect together. And learn the values, visions and prosperity views. And once we learn about their prosperity views, or even asking ‘what are your social boundaries and ecological boundaries?’, then we can start building bridges.

Using our voice, choice and power at the systemic level

Something we touched on momentarily was how we take our voice, choice and power to the systemic level, so that we are speaking, and are heard, by policy makers and business.

When people have their voices, you can see it start connecting with other aspects of their life. They’re able to say ‘no, we don’t agree with this’ because now they have the ability to realise they’re as important as anyone else, especially in that intersection between community, policy makers and business. How might we bring all these people together to allow the system to flow in a way that doesn’t flow in one way, from those with (institutional) power, but rather understand that we’re all as important as each other - someone in a big office, and someone who’s not. It’s also the separation that makes us lose our voice.

This connects with one of our other July peer-to-peer topics on 'Breaking down silos with DE' and it will be great to pick up and build upon in a future peer-to-peer session on voice, choice and power.

Acknowledgements

This story was written by Rob Shorter, Communities & Art Lead at DEAL (acknowledging the sense-making from my limited perspective).

Thanks to all those who came to the two peer-to-peer sessions (around 40 people in total) who shared their reflections, insights, experiences and questions.

Finally to say that it's a joy and a privilege to host spaces where people come together to share things from their perspective and make new connections with each other. I believe there is an extraordinary power in peer-to-peer learning, and similar sentiments were shared by those in the sessions. To quote one person who shared in the chat at the end of one of the sessions:

Thank you all for sharing this space today :) I am processing more slowly than usual but what is landing immediately is feeling a sense of invisible and unknowable solidarity with a group of strangers around the world wanting the same good, beautiful, joyful things for our communities!

Find more community-focused events, tools and stories here.