The lived experiences of contemplative practices in the lives of social change actors: An analysis with contemplative resistance and transformative change

Pletzer, Jordan Susan (2021) The lived experiences of contemplative practices in the lives of social change actors: An analysis with contemplative resistance and transformative change. Masters thesis, Northern Arizona University.

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Abstract

Although there is a large body of literature in the contemplative studies field, there is still much to learn about contemplative resistance and transformative change. Contemplative resistance uses contemplative tools to resist negative tendencies or systems like mental dominance, social corruption and prejudice, commercial narrowness, and intellectual and creative compliance. Transformative change is a change in how a system is built and functions, with a focus on incorporating interdisciplinary alteration across all scales. Additionally, there is little known how individuals define and understand contemplative practices, the role that they play in the lives of those practitioners, and how those practitioners engage with a personal practice. Through in-depth interviews, I asked social change actors about these missing pieces to better understand the role that contemplative practices play in their lives. I also analyzed their lived experienced with the literature on contemplative resistance and transformative change. I found that contemplative practices played roles in tending to the inner world and the outer world, and also found obstacles that hindered these processes. This research illustrates the difference between the participants’ lived experience of contemplative practices with the literature in contemplative studies, the connection between these experiences with contemplative resistance and transformative change, and the role that intention and identity might play in these spheres.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Publisher’s Statement:	© Copyright is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the Cline Library, Northern Arizona University. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.
Keywords:	contemplative practice; contemplative resistance; contemplative studies; social change; transformative change
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
NAU Depositing Author Academic Status:	Student
Department/Unit:	Graduate College > Theses and Dissertations College of Social and Behavioral Science > Sustainable Communities
Date Deposited:	14 Feb 2022 17:52
Last Modified:	14 Feb 2022 17:52
URI:	https://openknowledge.nau.edu/id/eprint/5693

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