12 Spheres of social change

Often, as we learn more about systemic oppression and our own complicity in it, effecting meaningful change begins to feel like a daunting task.

If you ever feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of these issues, or just want to think more strategically about how your actions and choices can contribute to building a more equitable world, start by mapping out your spheres of concern, control and influence.

Sphere of concern: These are the issues, injustices, groups, policies, practices, etc. that elicit a strong response in you and call you to act in solidarity with others. There is no limit to what and who lives in this sphere. Your sphere of concern can be as focused or expansive as you have capacity for at any given moment.

Sphere of influence: No single person can dismantle a system of oppression. At the concrete level, many of the issues and practices in your sphere of concern are not things you will have the agency to change. For example, one of the issues in your sphere of concern might be the lack of representation of a group in a program of study. If you are an instructor teaching in that program, it is very likely that you do not have the power to make the necessary changes to the program’s recruitment and enrolment strategies to increase that group’s representation. However, as an instructor, you likely have access to people who do have the power to make those changes, such as deans and department heads, and to institutional spaces and resources such as townhalls, community consultations, and surveys where you can advocate for positive change in these areas. Your sphere of influence is your relational and indirect power to advocate for change. It consists of the relationships and opportunities you can access to advocate for positive change around the issues that sit within your sphere of concern.

Sphere of control: Regardless of what your position is within an institution, there are direct actions you can take within your own context to challenge the injustices in your sphere of concern. Going back to the example above, as an instructor you might not have the power to address the under representation of females in your program, but you do have the power to increase the representation of female-authored content in your course. The sphere of control captures the myriad of actions and choices—big and small—that you can take to directly address injustice in your own context.