Praxis Series Paper No. 11: Revitalising a Social Movement Through a Global Theory of Change

Praxis Series Paper No. 11 is written by Rick James. It focuses on the Mothers’ Union (MU), an international Christian organisation. Founded in 1876, MU aims to support families around the world. Between 2017 and 2019, MU undertook a major, global Theory of Change process with a radically participatory approach. Its designers named the process Mothers’ Union Listening, Observing and Acting (MULOA). Rick James examined key documents of the MULOA process, and interviewed stakeholders involved in it.

The paper explores how this process shows that it is possible to “listen at scale”, and achieve major positive organisational change by taking a genuinely participative approach. It examines change at various levels of the organisation, and looks at how MU coped when the COVID-19 pandemic emerged just as the organisation shared its new strategy.