What is interdependence and why do we need a movement for it?

The Miracle Inn will support the functioning and growth of an emergent Movement for Interdependence.

Our work will be cultural and defined by tackling the things we want to move away from (hyper-individualism), and nurturing the things we want to move towards (interdependence). Such a shift (from hyper-individualism to interdependence) will likely require a society-wide shift in how we see ourselves as human beings. It is time to ask ourselves if we want to be fiercely independent selves destined to struggle alone for survival in a rapidly changing world? Or, interdependent selves who recognise ourselves as part of a larger, entangled, whole?

Belief in the idea of the independent self underpins the ideology that has dominated the Western world for nearly five decades: Individualism. Over that period - the era of neoliberalism - individualism has deepened, evolved, and mutated. In recent years its many benefits have begun to become eclipsed by its numerous harms as an extreme version, hyper-individualism, has taken hold. As people begin to recognise the social, environmental and personal harms of hyper-individualism, belief in the idea of the independent self is starting to wane and with this the logic of individualism as an ideology to live by is being questioned.

In contrast, belief in the idea of the interdependent self is starting to grow (or re-emerge). This article introduces interdependence in more depth, but begins by exploring how individualism intersects with environmentalism.

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In February 2025 I gave a TEDx talk on why environmentalism is failing. The key reason for its failure, I argued, is the emergence of hyper-individualism.

Not only are countries with the highest levels of individualism also the countries with the highest ecological footprints (Komatsu et. al., 2019), (hyper)individualism also seems to stymie our imagination and creative ability. This, I argued, goes some way towards explaining why we have struggled to deliver new, more effective, approaches to environmentalism. There are some innovators, of course, but most environmentalists remain trapped in the old, inadequate, approaches. The cognitive, the behavioural, and the technological are not sufficient, not even when done in combination.

Hyper-individualism does something else too, something even more problematic. The more individualised we are, the harder we find it to come together. I explored this in my TEDx in the following passage, where I also set out how the Movement for Interdependence is emerging - in spite of it all - as a remedial force. So, as Solitaire Townsend might say ‘f**k doom’ and read on, there is a way forward:

The individualism, which was lovely and brilliant when it started, was lovely and brilliant because it co-existed with collaboration and community. The ying had a yang. What we have now, with hyper-individualism, is a ying without a yang.

It’s lonely, it’s painful, it makes us fragile, and… impotent, because a society of strongly independent selves, is a fragmented society; which is not really a society at all. It doesn't band together to build the new, or to overthrow oppressive systems. It is also incredibly vulnerable to attack, including from within. Have we ever been more susceptible to those who wish to divide, conquer, and control?

However, HUGE HOWEVER. A remedy to all this might just be starting to emerge. If we can get it right, and do enough of it, its effect will be less dustpan and brush, more bulldozer.

Individualism is never going to go away, but the hyper version of it could be reined in enough to help us, to free us, to properly come up with ideas again. But even more importantly, if we can tame the hyper, we will stand a better chance of reconnecting with each other and the planet, and to make that connection deep enough that it develops, within us, the kinship that underpins collective struggle.

What is emerging is a Movement for Interdependence. Through it we are rediscovering ourselves as connected beings; to each other, to other species, and to the Earth itself. We feel less separate, more entangled. And as that happens, we are letting going of the ‘independent self’ as an idea to live by; and embracing, instead, the ‘interdependent self’.

This is not easy to do, not in an economy that grows by splitting us off from one another. But it is starting to happen. Helping people to discover their interdependent self, is a fourth – and much needed – approach to environmentalism.

In truth, this approach has always been there, but only in the margins. It is now, however, building the sort of momentum that might help it become mainstream. Crucial to this is that it intersects and overlaps with efforts in the societal realm, like #CitizensNotConsumers and #DoWith not ‘do to’. Environmentalists are not alone in trying to tackle hyper-individualism.

This approach bands us together and it teaches us to think, to deliberate, to daydream.

And the more it can do this, the more it can help us imagine alternative futures and become a collective force powerful enough to win the struggle for the ‘fundamental changes to how society functions’ that are needed.

The above hints at what the Movement is doing, but doesn’t define what interdependence actually is. To grasp this, it is helpful to turn to the world of relationships. Cara Gardenswartz describes interdependence in a succinct and useful way:

Interdependence represents the delicate dance of mutual reliance and support within relationships. Unlike the notion of rugged independence, interdependence acknowledges the inherent interconnectedness of individuals and celebrates the strength found in collaboration. In interdependent relationships, partners embrace their vulnerabilities, share responsibilities, and draw strength from each other's unique qualities. Through open communication and genuine reciprocity, they cultivate a sense of belonging and unity while maintaining their individual identities.

Gardenscwartz is putting interdependence forward as key to healthy relationships at the level of partnerships between two people. Note that the emphasis is on striking a balance between supporting one another while still maintaining one’s own individual identity. To embrace this way of thinking is to embrace the idea of the interdependent self.

The Movement for Interdependence goes further: it is supporting us to question the idea of the independent self as we begin to embrace the idea of the interdependent self, but this time at the level of society and, further still, at the level of how we relate to the more-than-human world.

And like Gardenscwartz, the Movement for Interdependence does not ask us give ourselves up entirely to society, or to a cause like ‘the climate’, it asks us to only somewhat give ourselves up. This is a defining feature, and is done in recognition of the fact that individualism is not all bad. What interdependence keeps in mind is that we can (and should) be concerned with both the self and the bigger-than-self simultaneously.

It is a balancing act.

The Movement for Interdependence moves in many different ways to help us strike that balance.