Reasons and supporting evidence about awakening the social and moral conciousness of the masses
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Conscience can be described as internalised values: a person’s intuitive ‘moral compass.’
While rational, philosophical, or religious arguments are often used as justifications,
conscience itself is primarily emotional: we associate feelings of pleasure and pride with right
action, and feelings of guilt and shame with wrong action. These emotions help to motivate
choices and behaviour, playing an important role in the maintenance and transformation of
social norms. In many ways, the norms of society are the sum of our collective values and
priorities – as society shapes us, we shape society.
In addition to a sense of right and wrong for personal action, individuals possess a sense of
right and wrong for collective action – what might be called social conscience. Individual
conscience compels us to act morally in our daily lives, avoiding or helping to relieve the
immediate suffering of others, whereas social conscience compels us to insist on moral action
from the wider institutions of society and to seek the transformation of social structures that
cause suffering. While individual conscience is reflected in norms of personal interaction,
social conscience is reflected in the ways we organise ourselves more broadly.
Across the political spectrum, most people experience a gap between the kind of world they
see and the kind they want. On a personal level, social conscience is what bridges that gap. If
we can understand our own social conscience, we can make more conscious choices to help
shape society according to our values. If we can understand the social conscience of others,
we can find common values and goals among seemingly diverse groups and build movements
for change. Understanding social conscience, whether our own or others’, helps to identify
assumptions, values, and visions, making it an important element of sustainability literacy,
and a useful tool for effective social and ecological transformation.
Social conscience and social movements
The remarkable diversity in modern social movements is not just a diversity of issues,
approaches, or demographics – it is also a diversity of values. On one level, we are all
working toward the same goals of sustainability and social justice, and seeing people with so
many different concerns working together is a great cause for hope. But are we really clear
about the goals that we and others are working towards? If learners can develop awareness of
social conscience within themselves and others, they will have a better understanding of what
they are working for, who they are working with, and why it matters, ultimately creating
space for more effective cooperation.