Duncan Green, Senior Strategic Adviser at Oxfam discusses the themes covered in his new book How Change Happens.
Human society is full of would-be ‘change agents’, a restless mix of campaigners, lobbyists, and officials, both individuals and organisations, set on transforming the world. They want to improve public services, reform laws and regulations, guarantee human rights, get a fairer deal for those on the sharp end, achieve greater recognition for any number of issues, or simply be treated with respect.
Striking then, that not many universities have a Department of Change Studies, to which social activists can turn for advice and inspiration. Instead, scholarly discussions of change are fragmented with few conversations crossing disciplinary boundaries, rarely making it onto the radars of those actively seeking change.
Published in October, How Change Happens bridges the gap between academia and practice, bringing together the best research from a range of academic disciplines and the evolving practical understanding of activists to explore the topic of social and political change. Duncan will share many of his first-hand examples from the global experience of Oxfam, one of the world’s largest social justice NGOs, as well as his insights from studying and working on international development. It tests ideas on How Change Happens and offers the latest thinking on what works to achieve progressive change.
About the author
Duncan Green is Senior Strategic Adviser at Oxfam GB and authors the From Poverty to Power blog.
Duncan was previously Senior Policy Adviser on trade and development at DFID (UK Department for International Development) and a Policy Analyst on trade and globalisation at CAFOD (Catholic Agency for Overseas Development). He is also currently a visiting fellow at IDS.
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