Human Revolution

In this chapter, I examine two social movements as they involved young women seeking to create new paths in Wellington, New Zealand in the 1990s: the Young Women’s Division of Soka Gakkai International New Zealand (SGINZ), a lay Buddhist movement; and the radical lesbian feminist movement. I was an active participant in both movements, thus the chapter is autoethnographic, distilling insights from the perspective of a Complete Member Researcher (CMR). For each movement, I analyse the motivations for young women’s involvement, the type of revolutionary change sought, and the approach to organisation. I determine that the lesbian feminist movement of the 1990s was ‘of its time’: a flotilla lashed temporarily together to explore and create landing spaces in barely charted waters. It unleashed an outpouring of radically transgressive energy that transformed young women’s lives and the social landscape, but it struggled to support all its members in the face of internal schisms. The Young Women’s Division of the Soka Gakkai International, in contrast, existed within a tightly designed organisational structure based on deep historic roots, that carefully directed participants’ energies to enhance their self-development, grow
the organisation, and transform wider society. The SGINZ did not confront political oppression head-on, but rather gave young women opportunities to undertake their ‘human revolution’ with a view to contributing to social change. The overlap of the membership of these two groups suggests that individuals may be drawn to more than one model. Looking back, from a relatively near future, it is clear that social movements work in mysterious ways, with at times unexpected results.

Drawing on a 2017 qualitative study entitled SGI Buddhist Jazz Artists and Global Citizenship, which examined the transformative potential of ordinary people to act in humanistic capacities as global citizens, this article explores the power of SGI's Buddhist philosophy and movement to inspire human agency on a global scale. One key 2017 finding was: "SGI Buddhist jazz artists are motivated to use their lives as mission based on understandings of the interconnectedness of life and living." Three questions investigate the ten participants' in-vivo language cited as P1-P10: 1) What Constitutes a Tremendous Philosophy?, 2) Why Is SGI's Philosophy a Cause for Optimism?, and 3) How Can Philosophy Inspire Human Agency on a Global Scale?" The emergent conclusion was that beyond political, economic, industrial, scientific, and artistic revolutions, any enduring global reform must first of all begin with the model of "human revolution" which, as put forth by SGI Buddhist Daisaku Ikeda, embodies the means to transform life at its most essential core.

Jazz has a unique character and history that finds analogy in matters of life and death. Its spontaneous and courageous aspect provides compelling models for leadership and social creativity and has a procreative capacity that imitates the eternal cycles of birth and extinction. Jazz’s transformative quality allows reinvention and reinterpretation of old and new forms and can inspire the creation of shared convictions. Its ebb and flow through mentors and griots is a model for preservation and sustainability. Yet, jazz’s emphasis on the moment recalls the brevity of life, the importance of living life to its fullest and the inevitability and finality of death. Deeply embedded in its philosophy and culture, are the historical lessons for transforming adversity into freedom and joy, and for discovering a synchronistic rhythm that makes meaning of “man’s inhumanity to man.” The Buddhist principles of non-violence, dialogue and compassion are the foundations of jazz and form the basis of human life’s highest integrity.

Humanity is on the threshold of recognizing the fundamental error in its view of life and death. Both death as well as active life is necessary to the vital formation of a larger, more essential whole. In this paper, I apply the sociology of knowledge and change as it pertains to death and focus on ways in which we can step outside its traditional frameworks and limitations. I also discuss topics related to death such as birth, aging, sickness, and war, and examine cultural differences in attitudes toward death. I offer varying perspectives including the Buddhist view and from these draw implications and conclusions. I apply the lenses of contemporary social scientists such as Edgar Morin, Kenneth Gergen, Edward Stewart, Milton Bennett, Mary Catherine Bateson, E. Doyle McCarthy, Philip Slater, and Piotr Sztompka. To these I add other relevant passages from the writings and speeches of key thinkers on the topic of death, in particular, Buddhist philosopher, peacebuilder, and educator, Daisaku Ikeda. To construct a more humanistic and sustainable view of life, it is first of all crucial to establish a culture which perceives death in its larger living context as but one cycle in the expansive eternity of life.

""Panic over Egypt’s current use of democratic protest stems not from some anti-democratic nature of their process, but from its inherent disregard for structural authority that undermines all institutionalized governance. Egypt represents not an exemplary case of meekly accepted structural inequality, but an exceptional case of dignified and rebellious humanity. The political shell-game has been turned on its head such that would-be elites are walking into a functional system that devalues institutionalized authority, legitimacy and sovereignty. States find Egypt’s new protest-driven democracy distasteful because it undermines the need for formal governance in general and states in particular. Shell Game by Molly Crabapple is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at http://mollycrabapple.com/2013/05/01/shell-game-hi-res/.""

"Panic over Egypt’s current use of democratic protest stems not from some anti-democratic nature of their process, but from its inherent disregard for structural authority that undermines all institutionalized governance. Egypt represents not an exemplary case of meekly accepted structural inequality, but an exceptional case of dignified and rebellious humanity. The political shell-game has been turned on its head such that would-be elites are walking into a functional system that devalues institutionalized authority, legitimacy and sovereignty. States find Egypt’s new protest-driven democracy distasteful because it undermines the need for formal governance in general and states in particular.

Shell Game by Molly Crabapple is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://mollycrabapple.com/2013/05/01/shell-game-hi-res/."