Ha-Joon Chang: Foreword
Introduction
Part 1. A Power and Systems Approach
1: Systems Thinking Changes Everything
2: Power Lies at the Heart of Change
3: Shifts in Social Norms often Underpin Change
Case Study: The Chiquitanos of Bolivia
Part 2. Institutions and the Importance of History
Introduction to Section 2
4: How States Evolve
5: The Machinery of Law
6: Accountability, Political Parties,and the Media
7: How the International System Shapes Change
8: Transnational Corporations as Drivers and Targets of Change
Case Study: The December 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change
Part 3. Activists
Introduction to Section 3
9: Citizen Activism and Civil Society
10: Leaders and leadership
11: The Power of Advocacy
12: A Power and Systems Approach to Making Change Happen
In Conclusion
Duncan Green is Oxfam GB's Senior Strategic Adviser. He also
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 book From Poverty to Power (2nd ed., 2012). How Change
Happens contains the accumulated experience of years spent engaged
in the field, researching and writing about reducing poverty and
combating
injustice and, as the author says, trying to, "do justice to the
complexity of the world, while still believing there is a story
about how it can be changed for the better."
`I can see How Change Happens being a book I come back to over the
years and thats where the value will be for me.'
Jamie Petit, in Development
`This book is hugely ambitious... Maybe now is a good time to read
How Change Happens, to reflect on how we got to the state we are in
and to prepare some alternative ideas, so that when the next crisis
comes we will be able to use them to build a more generous and
equitable future.'
Clare Short, The Tablet
`It's an engaging overview with lots of good examples.'
Jeremy Williams
`The book is ideas-packed, often exhilarating.'
Stephen Cook
`In this powerfully argued book, Duncan Green shows how we can make
major changes in our unequal and unjust world by concerted action,
taking full note of the economic and social mechanisms, including
established institutions, that sustain the existing order. If
self-confidence is important for the effective agency of deprived
communities, so is a reasoned understanding of the difficult
barriers that must be faced and overcome. This is a splendid
treatise
on how to change the actual world -- in reality, not just in our
dreams.'
Amartya Sen, Thomas W. Lamont University Professor, and Professor
of Economics and Philosophy, Harvard University
`In How Change Happens, Duncan Green points to a simple truth: that
positive social change requires power, and hence attention on the
part of reformers to politics and the institutions within which
power is exercised. It is an indispensable guide for activists and
change-makers everywhere.'
Francis Fukuyama, Senior Fellow at Stanford's Freeman Spogli
Institute for International Studies
`It was George Orwell who wrote that "The best books... are those
that tell you what you know already." Well in Duncan's book How
Change Happens I have found something better: A book that made me
think differently about something I have been doing for my entire
life. He has captured so much in these pages, drawing on global and
national and local change and examples from past and present. But
what makes this book so insightful is that at all times we are
able to see the world through Duncan's watchful eyes: From his time
as a backpacker in South America to lobbying the WTO in Seattle and
his many years with Oxfam, this is someone who has always been
watching
and always been reflecting.'
Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of Oxfam International
`Duncan has given us a remarkable tour de force, wide-ranging,
readable, combining theory and practice, and drawing on his
extensive reading and rich and varied experience. How Change
Happens is a wonderful gift to all development professionals and
citizens who want to make our world a better place. Only after
reading and reflecting have I been able to see how badly we have
needed this book. The evidence, examples, analysis, insights and
ideas for action
are a quiet but compelling call for reflection on errors and
omissions in ones own mindset and practice. It is as relevant and
important for South as North, for funders as activists, for
governments as NGOs,
for transnational corporations as campaigning citizens. We are all
in this together. How Change Happens should stand the test of time.
It is a landmark, a must read book to return to again and again to
inform and inspire reflection and action.'
Robert Chambers, Research Associate, Institute of Development
Studies
`This is a gem of a book. Lucidly written and disarmingly frank, it
distils the authors decades of experience in global development
practice to share what can work and what may not, in changing power
relations and complex systems. Again and again I found myself
agreeing with him. All of us--practitioners and academics--who want
a better world, and are willing to work for it, must read this
book.'
Bina Agarwal, Professor of Development Economics and Environment,
Global Development Institute, University of Manchester
`This fascinating book should be on the bedside of any activist and
many others besides. Duncan Green is the rare global activist who
can explain in clear yet analytical language what it takes to make
change happen. Ranging widely from Lake Titicaca in Peru to rural
Tajikistan, from shanty towns to the halls of power, this is a book
sprinkled with wisdom and insight on every page.'
Dani Rodrik, Ford Foundation Professor of International Political
Economy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard
University
`How Change Happens is a positive guide to activists. When one
feels despondent and disheartened then reading this book will help
to encourage, energise and inspire one to participate in the
creation of a better world. Duncan Green makes the case with vivid
examples that significant changes have taken place and continue to
take place when social and environmental activists employ skilful
means and multiple strategies such as advocacy, campaigning,
organising and building movements. It is a wonderful book. Read it
and be enthused to join in the journey of change.'
Satish Kumar, Founder of Schumacher College and Editor Emeritus,
Resurgence & Ecologist magazine
`(from the foreword) Those who are purely interested in
understanding better how societies change will find a treasure
trove of theoretical insights and empirical evidence. Those who
want to change the world through formal politics will learn a lot.
Civil servants who want to make things better for citizens, or
business leaders who want to do more than simply maximise profits
will also find plenty of lessons.'
Ha-Joon Chang, author of 23 Things They Don't Tell You About
Capitalism, and Economics: the User's Guide
`The world committed to global transformative change in 2015, with
the 2030 Agenda and targets in the Paris Climate Agreement to stay
well below 2°C and achieve carbon neutrality by the second half of
the century. We need to understand how change happens in order to
accelerate our pathway to a safe future. Duncan Green's book is a
timely and badly needed guide to bringing about the necessary
social and political change.'
Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland
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