How Change Happens: Why Some Social Movements Succeed While Others Don't

Discover how those who change the world do so with this thoughtful and timely book

Why do some changes occur, and others don't? What are the factors that drive successful social and environmental movements, while others falter? How Change Happens examines the leadership approaches, campaign strategies, and ground-level tactics employed in a range of modern social change campaigns. The book explores successful movements that have achieved phenomenal impact since the 1980s—tobacco control, gun rights expansion, LGBT marriage equality, and acid rain elimination. It also examines recent campaigns that seem to have fizzled, like Occupy Wall Street, and those that continue to struggle, like gun violence prevention. And it explores implications for movements that are newly emerging, like Black Lives Matter. By comparing successful social change campaigns to the rest, How Change Happens reveals powerful lessons for changemakers who seek to impact society and the planet for the better in the twenty-first century.

Whatever cause inspires you, advance it by applying the must-listen advice in How Change Happens—whether you lead a social change effort, or if you're tired of just watching from the outside and want to join the fray, or if you simply want to better understand how change happens, this book is the place to start.

© 2025 Ascent Audio (Audiobook): 9781663731289

Release date

Audiobook: June 3, 2025