gence. Not start from a large-scale ideology and with a general solution. One can
argue that the small-scale approach is also an ideology, but one that is open to in-
fluences and easier to adapt along the way. That is its biggest advantage. As Thack-
ara explains, “Thinking local and thinking small is not a parochial approach, and it
is not an abdication of responsibility for the bigger picture. On the contrary, we
will get from here to there by a series of smaller, but carefully considered, steps.”
(Thackara 2005: 96)
This shift of perspectives to the small scale has been seen over the last decades, es-
pecially within development aid projects and relief work, where the large-scale
programs of building massive infrastructure, dams or advanced technical systems,
are supplemented with attempts to facilitate grass-root empowerment. It is a shift
into what development practitioner Nabeel Hamdi calls “small change” (2004).
Small change is a method applied in development aid systems for achieving real,
relevant, and lasting change, to reach more people through fewer resources. The
concept of “small change” is in development projects relating to improvised and
immediate small-scale actions. It is participation from below in limited issues, such
as a bus stop or a compost bin, that later grows into a large-scale and long term
practice, as over time the collaborations become more sophisticated and intelli-
gent. For Hamdi, the goal is not to create a massive movement but to encourage
and “tip over” those who are close to acting but lack courage or a working exam-
ple.Small Change captures three important principles that recur throughout: ‘small’
because that’s usually how big things start; ‘change’, because that’s what development
is essentially about; and ‘small change’, because this can be done without the millions
typically spent on programs and projects. (Hamdi 2004: xxiii)Small change is a practice that combines idealism with pragmatism, creating syner-
gies and emergence – looking for multipliers. The single small action can turn outSweatshop Watch is a LA-based
organization committed to eliminating the
exploitation that occurs in clothes production
and the illegal and inhumane working condi-
tions in sweatshops. To help workers gain
knowledge and get organized about labour
issues they have made illustrated comic-style
information booklets about civil, immigrant,
and workers rights with text in mandarin,
vietnamese and english. These booklets offer
small scenarios about legal processes as well
as step-by-step to-do lists of how to run a
process against abuse.