Harris Voices: The Art and Science of "Jan Andolans"—or Mass Movements—for Grand Challenges

Shortly before she passed away last spring, Cheistha Kochhar, MAIDP'20, a Harris School of Public Policy alumna and former employee, began writing a series of articles on her behavioral strategy work, both as Senior Advisor for NITI Aayog's National Behavioral Insights Unit of India, and as a Doctoral Candidate with the London School of Economics and Political Science. The intention was to share her articles as part of a series on behavioral science. We have gained permission from her family to share her articles in her memory.

The increasing awareness that the world's most pressing challenges, often referred to as grand challenges, cannot be solved by any single organization, community, or country alone, has underscored the necessity for collective action. However, our understanding of one of the most powerful vehicles of collective action—mass movements—remains surprisingly narrow.

Mass movements, or Jan Andolans, have traditionally been seen as political movements aimed at supporting or changing existing social, economic, or political institutions. These collective actions, undertaken by large groups of people, have been pivotal in shaping the course of various societies and nations. Historically notable examples include the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, led by figures like Martin Luther King, Jr., and India’s own independence movement spearheaded by Mahatma Gandhi. These movements have not only challenged existing power structures, but also brought about significant social and political changes.

Despite their historical significance, the analysis of mass movements has often been confined to their political underpinnings and impact. They are predominantly viewed as an art of charismatic leaders. This traditional view, however, overlooks the potential to understand mass movements as systematic instruments to drive behavioral change for addressing grand challenges.

Initiatives like India's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Campaign) or the Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE) initiative serve as prime examples of how mass movements can extend beyond political motives to effect on-ground change in societal behaviors and attitudes. These programs have demonstrated how to go beyond traditional communication campaigns and systematically leverage the dense network of institutions and communities that scaffold society for large-scale behavior change. While programs like these may undoubtedly offer public approval and political mileage, their simultaneous effect on widespread behavioral change cannot be ignored and compels inquiry into a deeper function of mass movements.

There is reason to believe that mass movements are not just an art possessed by political leaders but also a science that can be developed by institutions. There is an opportunity to study them as systematic tools for inducing large-scale behavioral change for development goals.

While there is scholarly work that sheds light on how mass movements start, our understanding of how they can be institutionally orchestrated and of the specific mechanisms through which they drive behavior change remains limited. I offer three plausible explanations of how Jan Andolans influence collective behaviors. First, mass movements can influence social norms, i.e., the unwritten rules of behavior in a society. By altering what is considered acceptable or standard behavior, these movements can reshape collective behaviors. Second, they can impact our availability bias, a cognitive shortcut that relies on immediate examples that come to a person's mind. By altering the information and examples readily available to individuals, they can influence their perceptions and decisions. Third, they have the potential to influence our mental models, i.e., the ingrained assumptions and generalizations that influence how we understand the world and take action. By challenging and reshaping these models, movements can drive profound changes in behavior and attitudes.

These are, however, only hypothesized plausible explanations of how mass movements drive collective action. There is a need for a wider body of empirical work to understand how institutions can trigger and measure Jan Andolans, beyond communication campaigns, as tools of collective behavior change.

This body of work can not only add significantly to academic literature but also empower local institutions for driving change. By recognizing and harnessing the power of Jan Andolans, these institutions can transcend traditional, supply-side interventions and incremental efforts.

Re-examining Jan Andolans as a science rather than just an art of leadership opens new avenues for understanding and leveraging these movements. The potential of mass movements to enact behavioral change opens a gateway to harnessing the power of collective action for broader societal benefits, especially in the context of sustainable global development.