In Singapore, the dominant paradigm of how to enact social change is through evidence-based programmes that are state- or philanthropy-funded, centrally administered, professionally managed, preferably at scale, and decided through competitive bidding so that best agency using proprietary interventions delivers the most impact. As the country developed, the government has increasingly taken the lead in many aspects of social welfare provision and centrally administered community development. As a result, the ‘impulse from below’ is sometimes dampened, and ideas from non-mainstream economic thinking such as universal basic income, worker-owned cooperatives and community currencies are ignored or dismissed.
This presentation reports on the experience of a newly minted policy innovation lab in Singapore that is interested in such economic alternatives and to consider the broader question of whether transformative change can be brokered without antagonism. I will share how we conduct policy experiments and social change programmes that confront power without being confrontational. The strategy we have adopted requires engaging with alternative paradigms and building parallel institutions. As brokers and intermediaries, the balance we take is often delicate—we articulate how ‘parallel’ does not necessarily mean ‘against’ but offering an alternative that is proposed to be more ideal. Such solutions are not necessarily ‘complementary’ either because alternatives may suggest what is wrong with the current system. We think of what we do as less Karate and more Aikido—instead of fighting against power, we find ourselves working in harmony with it, defending ourselves but also protecting our attackers from injury.