How social change works
Sometimes when you are working outside the system, it can feel like you’re not making progress. Understanding more about the process of change might help show the bigger picture and keep you motivated.- The thinkingdoingchanging.com blog is a good place to start with short, readable blogs for activists by a self-proclaimed ‘social change geek’.
- This short article describes the ecology of social change, based on the work of the influential Ayni Institute.
- Sheila McKechnie Foundation has recently launched a Changemakers’ Toolkit, which has great graphics outlining all the ways social change can happen. Find your place in it!
- Beautiful Trouble has pithy guides to some of the main theories and themes of social change.
Theories of change
At its core, a theory of change is just a tool to help you think about how your actions might bring about the change you want. At its best, it can help you tweak and adapt your actions to get better results. It can also test how you are doing over time. And developing a theory of change is itself a useful process for making you think and question your approach.
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A great place to start is with the Commons Library’s template which walks you through the process.
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The charity think tank NPC also has a guide on how to develop a theory of change for campaigning. It links to plenty of other useful resources on their site.
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Case studies can really bring change to life. There’s little more inspiring than a story of success. Stories of failure can also be useful guides to potential pitfalls and hazards.
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Beautiful Trouble has a theory of change exercise as well as hundreds of stories of campaigns and activism from around the world.
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For more case studies of how different theories of change work in practice, this Waging Nonviolence guide outlines some of the major struggles of the late 20th and early 21st century, from the fight against South African apartheid to the US Civil Rights movement.
- In their video section, Momentum has in-depth case study webinars of the US Sunrise movement and Hong Kong’s Umbrella movement.
Podcasts
The ChangeMakers podcast has been telling stories about people working for social change since 2017. It has spin-off strand all about community organising
In the Beautiful Trouble podcast, you’ll hear from troublemakers from around the world talking all about the tactics and theories behind compelling stories of nonviolent activism.
The New Economics Foundation’s podcast takes a broader look at different ways to bring about social change in the UK, including policy-focused work as well as campaigning and activism.
The Social Change Agency podcast features interviews with a range of change-makers in the UK.
The Hegemonicon podcast gives a more theoretical take on how social change happens and how power shifts. It’s hosted by one of the US Sunrise Movement’s co-founders.
The ChangeMakers podcast has been telling stories about people working for social change since 2017. It has spin-off strand all about community organising
In the Beautiful Trouble podcast, you’ll hear from troublemakers from around the world talking all about the tactics and theories behind compelling stories of nonviolent activism.
The New Economics Foundation’s podcast takes a broader look at different ways to bring about social change in the UK, including policy-focused work as well as campaigning and activism.
The Social Change Agency podcast features interviews with a range of change-makers in the UK.
The Hegemonicon podcast gives a more theoretical take on how social change happens and how power shifts. It’s hosted by one of the US Sunrise Movement’s co-founders.
Videos
The Commons Library has put together a bank of inspiring TED talks of interest to anyone interested in social change and activism.
They have also compiled videos from the PowerLabs collection about designing and running people-powered campaigns (you can see these videos on the PowerLabs website too).
Mobilizing Ideas has a collection of short videos in which academic experts answer some of activists’ most pressing questions. Their Youtube channel features longer interviews.
For background theory on social movements, the Ayni Institute has shared some of their webinars looking at the ecology of social movements and Momentum Driven Organising.
The Commons Library has put together a bank of inspiring TED talks of interest to anyone interested in social change and activism.
They have also compiled videos from the PowerLabs collection about designing and running people-powered campaigns (you can see these videos on the PowerLabs website too).
Mobilizing Ideas has a collection of short videos in which academic experts answer some of activists’ most pressing questions. Their Youtube channel features longer interviews.
For background theory on social movements, the Ayni Institute has shared some of their webinars looking at the ecology of social movements and Momentum Driven Organising.
Books and articles
The Commons Social Change Library has a fantastic collection of books for anyone interested in activism, social justice and changing the world for the better.
Activist Handbook also has its own recommended books in its activism library.
The Commons Social Change Library has a fantastic collection of books for anyone interested in activism, social justice and changing the world for the better.
Activist Handbook also has its own recommended books in its activism library.