The Four-Stepped Staircase was developed throughout the course of ReAct’s project researching the organization around conflicts between transnational corporations and local populations (workers and residents).
It was used by local leaders to translate the local situation simply, and to share a strategy with the members of their communities to change an unfair situation.
It was thought of as a way to fight against the attraction of the two deadlocks (seeking benevolence as well as sporadic uprisings) for numerous people among local communities. Its simplicity allows it to be easily transmittable and to give to all the broad strokes of strategy to be followed.