How change happens

This open-access book by Duncan Green, with Tom Kirk, bridges the gap between academia and practice, bringing together research and the practical insights of activists to explore social and political change.

Excerpt from How change happens

"Human society is full of would-be ‘change agents’, a restless mix of campaigners, lobbyists, and officials, both individuals and organizations, set on transforming the world. They want to improve public services, reform laws and regulations, guarantee human rights, get a fairer deal for those on the sharp end, and achieve greater recognition for any number of issues, or simply be treated with respect.

It is striking, then, that universities have no Department of Change Studies to which social activists can turn for advice and inspiration. Instead, scholarly discussions of change are fragmented, with few conversations crossing disciplinary boundaries or making it onto the radars of those actively seeking change.

How Change Happens bridges the gap between academia and practice, bringing together the best research from a range of academic disciplines and the evolving practical understanding of activists to explore the topic of social and political change. Drawing on many first-hand examples from the global experience of Oxfam, one of the world’s largest social justice NGOs, as well as the author’s forty years of studying and working on international development, it tests ideas and sets out the latest thinking on what works to achieve progressive change.

This second edition adds a chapter by the London School of Economics (LSE)’s Dr Tom Kirk on the rising importance of digital technology in activism, and analyses the implications of some of the darker currents of populism and shrinking civic space for those trying to bring about positive change."

(Green & Kirk, 2024)

Contents

• Part I. Rethinking our approach to change
• Part II. Institutions and the importance of history
• Part III. What activists can (and can't) do
• Part IV. Pulling it all together