A novel and scientific approach to creating transformative social change—and the surprising ways that each of us can help make a real difference.
Changing the world is difficult. One reason is that the most important problems, like climate change, racism, and poverty, are structural. They emerge from our collective practices: laws, economies, history, culture, norms, and built environments. But there’s no way to make structural change without individual people making different—more structure-facing—decisions. In Somebody Should Do Something, Michael Brownstein, Daniel Kelly, and I show how we can connect our personal choices to structural change and why individual choices matter — just not the way people usually think. Our most powerful personal choices springboard us into working together with others.

“A must-read for anyone interested in escaping the demoralizing effects of pessimism, in favor of defining their own role in fighting for social change.” – Library Journal

“Somebody Should Do Something is an excellent social science book that lights a path to change for some of the pressing problems impacting the US and the world.” – Foreword Reviews

“Perfectly poised to meet the moment, Somebody Should Do Something is a gem containing hope. Replete with stories from our own history and the best scientific evidence today, this book will change you into the both/and thinker that our time is calling us to be.” — Mahzarin R. Banaji, Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics, Harvard University