When I started writing and first tried to characterize my work, I came across a wonderful word: psychogram - a story that revolves around the psychological evolution of a specific character. The societal background and even geographical location of the story and the character are of secondary importance. I focus on the psychological aspects of the story and end up with a narrative that is told entirely by one narrator. Developping such a story is easy for me, since I am used to it and, in general, have quite a good idea about how the story ends.
Now, I want to write about an historical event, more specifically, I want to tell the story of how a firmly established subculture dissolves under the pressure of changing times. The story is anchored to a specific time and geographical setting, the outcome is quite clear: The subculture ceases to exist. One of my favourite authors, Hans Fallada, would have been perfect to write a story like this: Many characters, many viewpoints, a societal approach to storytelling that focuses on an entire body of people rather than singled-out individuals. Since I am new to this kind of story-telling, I want to ask: How do I do this?
Related questions: Is it possible to use my psychogram-techniques of writing to develop a plot for a story about an entire society? (I.e.: Is it possible to concentrate on a single character, possibly in the form of a hero's journey, and yet tell the story of a societal upheaval?) Have you experience with similar projects, and have you possibly developed methods to handle them?
tl;dr: As a storyteller used to stories about individuals, how do I handle a story about a societal upheaval?