Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection
By Deepa Iyer
Thick Press, 2022
Spiral bound paperback, 8.5 x 6.5 in.
172 pages
$20
WPA Note:
This book is a part of our "On Gathering" series.
Description:
For those who are just beginning their social change journeys to those who are weary and disillusioned, how can we effectively anchor our commitments to equity, solidarity, and justice? This is the entry point for Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection, Deepa Iyer’s heartfelt offering to individuals and groups seeking to initiate or deepen their actions in service to social change values. Relying on two decades of work supporting social movements, Iyer introduces a new approach called the social change ecosystem framework, which includes a map of ten roles, from visionary to storyteller to disrupter to experimenter, as well as practices to identify values and strengthen our social change ecosystems. Social Change Now goes well beyond presenting ideas and frameworks. It’s also a practical guide that contains detailed descriptions and real-world examples, reflection prompts (with room to write responses), and accessible tips that can immediately be put into action.
About the Author(s):
Deepa Iyer has played many roles: weaver, frontline responder, storyteller, and guide over the course of two decades supporting social movements. Currently, she leads projects on solidarity and social movements at the Building Movement Project, a national nonprofit organization that catalyzes social change through research, relationships, and resources. She conducts trainings, uplifts narratives through the Solidarity Is This podcast, and facilitates solidarity strategy for cohorts and networks. Previously, she served as executive director of South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT). Her first book, We Too Sing America: South Asian, Arab, Muslim, and Sikh Immigrants Shape Our Multiracial Future (The New Press, 2015), chronicles community-based histories in the wake of 9/11 and received a 2016 American Book Award. Her second book, Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection, is a guide based on the social change ecosystem map and was just published in 2022 by Thick Press.