Trying to change the world? Here are some key resources.
Here are nine free books on how: guides to activism, advocacy, community organising, and social change work. And below them, there are some guides on self-care for activists.
Books on doing activism
- Alinsky, S. D. (1971). Rules for Radicals. New York: Random House.
- Delgado, M., & Staples, L. (2007). Youth-led community organizing: Theory and action. Oxford University Press.
- Gasch, Renee, and Julia Reticker-Flynn. (2019). Youth Activist Toolkit. Washington, DC: Advocates for Youth.
- Kahn, S. (2010). Creative community organizing: A guide for rabble-rousers, activists, and quiet lovers of justice. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
- Minieri, J., and P. Getsos. (2007). Tools for Radical Democracy: How to organize for power in your community. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
- Pyles, L. (2009). Progressive community organising: A critical approach for a globalising world. New York, NY: Routledge.
- Ricketts, A. (2012). The Activists’ Handbook: a step-by-step guide to participatory democracy. Zed Books Ltd.
- Schutz, A., & Sandy, M. (2011). Collective action for social change: An introduction to community organizing. Springer.
- Sen, Rinku. (2003). Stir it Up: Lessons in Community Organizing and Advocacy. Josey-Bass.
- Sensoy, O., & DiAngelo, R. (2017). Is everyone really equal?: An introduction to key concepts in social justice education. Teachers College Press.
Further 'how to' books on activism are listed here.
Online activist guides
- Community Toolbox: Tools to change our world: https://ctb.ku.edu/en. Including this wide-ranging, 46-chapter handbook: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents
- Activist Handbook: The collaborative manual: https://www.activisthandbook.org/en/home
- Racial Equity Tools: https://www.racialequitytools.org/home
- Community Catalyst: https://www.communitycatalyst.org/
Self-care
- A self-care guide for change-makers and peacebuilders during COVID-19. As we seek to address complex challenges in our communities, this brief guide outlines basic recommendations for ways we can take care of ourselves and our households.
- Self-Care and Self-Defense Manual for Feminist Activists. A 128-pp manual produced by the human rights and sexual rights organisation CREA (New York and Delhi).
- Feminist ethics of mental health care for women human rights defenders, by Lepa Mladjenovic. See pp. 67-71 of the Resource Book on Women Human Rights Defenders (2005), available here.
- Politicizing Self-Care and Wellbeing in Our Activism as Women Human Rights Defenders. Article by Verónica Vidal and Susan Tolmay, AWID (a global, feminist, membership, movement-support organization), 2015.
- What’s the point of revolution if we can’t dance? A book on self-care in feminist activism (2007), by Jane Barry with Jelena Đorđević, on behalf of the Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights.