The New Science of Social Change: A Modern Handbook for Activists

In this accessible guide for activists, scholar Lisa Mueller translates cutting-edge empirical research on effective protest to show how to make movements really matter

We are in the middle of a historic swell of activism taking place throughout the world. From Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring, to pro-democracy uprisings in China, Black Lives Matter, the Women’s March on Washington, and more recent pro-choice protests; folks everywhere are gathering to demand a more just world. Yet despite social engagement being at record highs, there is a divide between the activist community and the scientists—like Lisa Mueller, PhD—who study it.

In The New Science of Social Change, Mueller highlights what really works when it comes to group advocacy, to place proven tools in the hands of activists on the ground—in the U.S. and abroad. Drawing on both her decade-long career researching the science of protest and the work of other scholars, she stresses such things as the ingredients of collective action and how protests with cohesive demands are significantly more likely to win concessions than protests with mixed demands. 

Incorporating interactive exercises and the voices of experienced activists with her analysis, Mueller shows how a working knowledge of social science can help activists implement more effective strategies to create the real-world changes we want to see.

Lisa Mueller, PhD, is Associate Professor of Political Science at Macalester College, where she has served as Director of African Studies and Director of International Development Studies. Her first book, Political Protest in Contemporary Africa (Cambridge University Press 2018), received an honorable mention for Best Book of the Year from the African Politics Conference Group. She is a contributor to the Washington Post and has just returned from a year of service and study as a Fulbright Scholar.