Anthea Lawson – författare

Do you want to change the world but wonder if there’s any point trying?Are you unsure what you can offer, or don’t feel that you fit the activist mould?Do you think activists can be self-righteous, even oblivious to the very people they’re trying to help?'A wise, rich and crucial book.' George MonbiotHow Not To Save the World is a book about doing good, for anyone who has looked at politics or public discourse and thought, ‘we need better than this.’ The fervour that drives us to change the world can create blind spots, where we don’t see our own behaviour, or disregard it because the cause is urgent.Realistic, candid and hopeful, How Not To Save the World is a sympathetic exploration of alternatives to righteousness, purity traps and other unhelpful habits. It shows that there are ways to work together for what matters, without alienating the people we need to convince.***'The stories in this book show how we can build bridges in order to work together for the world that we want.' Brian Eno'Read it and weep, laugh, cringe... it might bring more compassion and togetherness in a broken world.' Dr. Gail Bradbrook, co-founder of Extinction Rebellion'Anthea Lawson's provocative book provides us with deep insights into the tactical, emotional and ethical complexities of campaigning.' Sir Jonathon Porritt

"I’d been an activist for years. I’d marched, protested, blocked the road, been arrested. I’d exposed how banks and tax havens fuel corruption, poverty and environmental destruction. I’d launched a campaign that rewrote the laws on secret company ownership in dozens of countries. My research had contributed to the cluster munitions ban and a treaty to control the arms trade. But despite these efforts, my discomfort about activism was growing. Was I part of the problem too?"The Entangled Activist is the story of how activism is entangled in the problems it seeks to solve, told by a hard-hitting campaigner who through personal experience –– as well as extensively researched psycho-social enquiry –– comes to look at activism very differently. After years of thinking that her task was to ‘get the bastards,’ campaigner, writer and reporter Anthea Lawson came to see that activism often emerges from the same troubles it is trying to fix, and that its demons, including hypocrisy, saviourism, burnout and treating other people badly, can be a gateway to understanding the depth of what really needs to change.Drawing on her own experience, critical analysis and interviews with leading activists, Lawson looks under the surface of our attempts to change the world to offer a timely and eye-opening vision for transformative work. By considering how unexamined shadows and assumptions get in the way of well-intentioned activist goals, and how those at the forefront of sociopolitical change are often caught up in the very systems and ideologies they seek to change, Lawson dismantles hierarchies that have shaped the field for too long.The Entangled Activist is a profound call to acknowledge our entanglement with the world. To those who are worried about the state of things but are skeptical of ‘activism’, it offers possibilities for action that go beyond righteousness and reactivity. And to activists who so want to help, it mindfully unearths a different starting place, one where transforming ourselves is unwaveringly part of transforming the world.