How can we understand the events, individuals and institutions that change the world? Can we use this to change things for the better? How can we really understand how change happens?
How Change Happens
How Change Happens is a new book from Duncan Green which explores the major themes that make change happen in the world. Whether you are an activist, campaigner, development practitioner, lobbyist, entrepreneur, individual or an organisation, it seeks to understand how power and systems shape change, and how you can influence them.
How Change Happens is available to purchase or free to download as a digital copy.
NEW Download the Audio Book from Amazon
An indispensable guide for activists and change-makers everywhere.Francis Fukuyama
This is a splendid treatise on how to change the actual world—in reality, not just in our dreams.Amartya Sen
A book that made me think differently about something I have been doing for my entire life.Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of Oxfam International
A wonderful gift to all development professionals and citizens who want to make our world a better place… It is a landmark, a must read book to return to again and again to inform and inspire reflection and action. I know no other book like it.Robert Chambers
Read more endorsements about How Change Happens
About Duncan Green
Duncan Green is Oxfam GB’s Senior Strategic Adviser. He teaches on international development at the London School of Economics, where he is a Professor in Practice. His blog is one of the most widely read on international development, and is named after his previous book to How Change Happens, From Poverty to Power.
Latest blogs from Duncan
Make Change Happen: a new online Oxfam course for activists. Please check it out.
August 17, 2018Can Adaptive Management help clear Africa’s rubbish mountains?
August 16, 2018Adaptive Management meets Menstrual Hygiene
August 15, 2018What would a feminist approach to localisation of humanitarian action look like?
August 14, 2018
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Explore the themes
We’ve curated content from around the world which highlights the major factors which enforce change. Do you have a case study, video, blog, article, etc. that you think shows how change happens? Fill in this form to submit your entry
Power & Systems
A ‘system’ is an interconnected set of elements coherently organized in a way that achieves something. Activists use ‘power analysis’ to explore who holds what power in any given system, and what might influence them to change.
Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System
October 12, 2016Navigating a New Agenda. Questions and Answers on Paradigm Shifts and Transformational Change
October 12, 2016The New Yorker: SMALL CHANGE – Why the revolution will not be tweeted.
August 22, 2016ODI: Understanding changing social norms and practices around girls’ education and marriage
August 22, 2016Law & State
As both drivers of change and targets for influencing, states are often central. The machinery of the law – courts, police services, customary and international law – acts as an important counterweight to the state, but is often underestimated by activists.
Citizens & Civil Society
Citizen activism includes political activism, but goes much wider, to include any action with social consequences.
Navigating a New Agenda. Questions and Answers on Paradigm Shifts and Transformational Change
October 12, 2016Reimagining Activism: A practical guide for the Great Transition
October 12, 2016ODI: Mapping Political Context – A Toolkit for Civil Society Organisations
August 22, 2016The New Yorker: SMALL CHANGE – Why the revolution will not be tweeted.
August 22, 2016Leaders & Advocacy
At every level of society, from the village committee or women’s savings group to great nation-builders, leaders reinforce group identity and cohesion, and mobilize collective effort toward shared goals.
WaterAid: Advocacy Sourcebook
August 22, 2016Words and actions: lessons from Unilever’s supply chain
August 17, 2016From Poverty to Power: Seizing the Moment – A Successful Campaign on Domestic Violence in Malawi
August 16, 2016From Poverty to Power: The Policy Funnel – a way to sharpen up our advocacy?
August 16, 2016International Systems & TNCs
The international system has a critical role in shaping society’s norms and beliefs. It is not enough for activists to declare ourselves either ‘anti-corporate’ or ‘pro-business’.
Whatever the starting point, we need to understand the traditions and mindsets of particular companies.