Change and Immunity to Change: Personal and Political

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article explores how constructive developmental theory may explain the origin of the current political crisis and provide a long-term solution. Two levels of adult development rely on fundamentally different sources to make meaning. Each views its own way of meaning-making as correct and others as inauthentic. The lack of a common ground for dialogue has caused “epistemic chaos” and a seemingly intractable political stalemate dangerous to democracy. The first step toward a solution is to understand the problem and the resistance to change. The second is to provide lifelong, experiential education to foster human development. In the work world, deliberately developmental education is already occurring more widely than commonly realized, with encouraging results.