How Change Happens: Why Some Social Movements Succeed While Others Don’t
by Leslie R. Crutchfield
Discover how those who change the world do so with this thoughtful and timely book.
Some movements soar while others stagnate. Why do some changes take hold while others don’t? How Change Happens explains why some of the most significant 21st century shifts happened. By studying the movements behind many important causes — from LGBTQ marriage equality and tobacco control, gun rights expansion, acid rain reduction, and more — author Leslie Crutchfield explores how society came to celebrate gay weddings and ban smoking in public, and at the same time allow guns to be carried in most U.S. states, and how friends won’t let each other drive drunk. The answer to why some movements succeed while others don’t is not what you think.
Learn more about Leslie Crutchfield and ‘How Change Happens’
| “How Change Happens”… recently reviewed by The New York Review of Books, serves as a blueprint for today’s movement leaders inspired to take action following Trump’s election. | “Millennials and next-gen activists care deeply about social justice. This book arms us with proven tools and fresh ideas to build leaderful grassroots movements, building on the work of Ella Baker and other great civil rights leaders of the generations who fought before us and paved the way….” | “Leslie Crutchfield is one of the most incisive and impactful thinkers in the social sectors … with a distinctive flair for bringing forth practical answers to audacious questions. Now, Crutchfield deploys her intellect, insight, and wisdom to address one of the most fascinating questions of our young century.” |
|---|---|---|
| –The New York Review of Books Fortune To the Contrary, PBS The Final Five, Fox DC | – Zach Norris, Executive Director, Ella Baker Center on Human Rights | – Jim Collins, author, Good to Great and Good to Great and the Social Sectors, co-author, Built to Last |
“Winning Movements made their destinies come true, rather than being destined to succeed.”– How Change Happens
Written by Leslie Crutchfield — an authority on social innovation — with the help of a team from Georgetown University’s Business for Impact at the McDonough School of Business, the book draws on the histories of many modern movements and includes interviews with campaign leaders, members, and supporters — as well as opponents. Crutchfield examines the unique contexts that underpin each cause and takes into account all the relevant factors that contribute to the success or failure of a movement.
It turns out that winning movements and also-rans alike started out with a mixed bag of advantages, disadvantages, as well as neutral factors. It’s what they did with it that matters. The success of winning movements hinged on the strategic choices leaders made, and how they got their movement’s many moving parts to align in order to advance a common cause – despite odds set heavily against them. In short, winning movements made their destinies come true, rather than being destined to succeed.
By comparing successful social change campaigns to those that falter, How Change Happens contains the powerful lessons that change makers can deploy if they are to impact society and the planet for the better in the years to come.
Support for the research was provided by Bank of America Foundation, Georgetown University, Glikbarg Family Foundation, Microsoft Philanthropies, UN Foundation, and an anonymous donor through the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
Available now
AUTHOR
Leslie Crutchfield is an author, executive director of Business for Impact at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, and a leading authority on social change.
Crutchfield’s first book, Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits with Heather McLeod Grant, was recognized by The Economist on its Best Books of the Year list. She then co-authored Do More Than Give: The Six Practices of Donors Who Change the World with John Kania and Mark Kramer of FSG, Social Impact Consultants where she serves as senior advisor. Her third book is How Change Happens
Crutchfield was previously a managing director at Ashoka, the global venture fund for social entrepreneurs, and she co-founded a U.S. nonprofit social enterprise in her 20s.
She has contributed to Fortune, Forbes, The Washington Post, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, and Stanford Social Innovation Review, and has appeared on programs such as NPR and ABC News.
Crutchfield has served on nonprofit boards including SEED Foundation and Kiva, and she volunteered with Crossroads Africa in The Gambia. She holds an MBA and B.A. from Harvard University, and resides in the Washington, D.C., region.
To request an interview with the author, please email businessforimpact@georgetown.edu
Media
How Change Happens released in stores April 16, 2018. Author Leslie Crutchfield has contributed expert commentary and articles to the following media.
The New York Review of Books
“How Change Happens”… reviewed by The New York Review of Books, serves as a blueprint for today’s movement leaders inspired to take action following Trump’s election. Featured in The Path of Greatest Resistance.
Add Passion and Stir Podcast
Philanthropy News Digest
Book Review – How Change Happens: Why Some Social Movements Succeed While Others Don’t
WAMU 88.5 FM
The Young Woke Vote: Washington’s Teen Activists Set Sights On The Midterms
The Business of Giving Podcast
Wharton Business Radio Highlights
The Success or Failure of Social Movements (audio)
Fortune
Why the Best Leaders Give Power Away
C-SPAN
To the Contrary, PBS
Enough is Enough; Girl Cub Scouts; How Change Happens
Washington Business Journal
Too big to ignore: How social movements are becoming part of corporate life
The Hill
Gun reformers must meet NRA at real battleground: state capitols
#Trending: #NeverAgain and Social Movements
The Chronicle of Philanthropy
Opinion: Gun Marches Won’t Matter Unless We Learn From Past Social-Change Wins.