The Role of Values and Worldview in Societal Transitions: The Case of “After Capitalism”

Too often the discussion of long-term societal change is situated in the context of today’s values and worldviews. Yet research from the World Values Survey and other sources suggest that there are discernable patterns in how values and worldviews are changing. Bringing that knowledge into our discussion and research about long-term societal change could help open up and shift the conversation to help see possibilities different from today. Additionally, we know from systems thinking that a key lever of systems change is influencing the paradigm -- i.e., the values and worldviews – of the system. This paper will explore the potentially pivotal role of values in worldviews in a proposed societal transition to “after capitalism – a new socioeconomic operating system that succeeds capitalism.