Experiencing Change: Interrelations Between Individual and Social Transformations

In this commentary I elaborate on the dynamic interrelation between individual and social change, looking at the process by which each influences the other. Through the different case studies presented in this book, I draw up several central processes and resources that individuals and groups resort to in times of personal and collective change. The chapter’s structure will flow from experiencing change at the personal level in one’s own life trajectory and the meaning-making processes individuals engage in to adapt to change. To then looking at experiencing change as a community and the process by which individual trajectories become part of a collective, through emerging new social identity groups engaging in a collective meaning-making process. To finally looking at how those individuals and groups experiencing change attempt to bring about change in the bigger society, looking at minority influence and processes of public intervention.