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book cover for How Not to Save the World

How Not to Save the World

Doing Good Without Annoying Everyone

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Pub Date 4 Jun 2026 | Archive Date 28 May 2026


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Description

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?

How 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.
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...

Advance Praise

'A wise, rich and crucial book, which is helping me to do better, and will help many others.' —George Monbiot

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 and sigh... ultimately it might bring more compassion and togetherness in a broken world.' —Dr. Gail Bradbrook, co-founder of Extinction Rebellion

'Lawson's provocative book provides us with deep insights into the tactical, emotional and ethical complexities of campaigning' —Sir Jonathon Porritt

'An urgent book, a scintillating call to match our outer activism with inner self-awareness.' —Professor Alastair McIntosh, author of Soil and Soul and Spiritual Activism

'A vital intervention.' —Jon Alexander, author of Citizens

'Deeply researched and refreshingly honest, this book is for activists – and the activism-weary.' —Sarah P. Corbett, author of The Craftivist Collective Handbook

'Highly readable even for the non-activist, yet sophisticated enough for the veteran... A crucial guide to the new skills and mindsets we’ll need to fight for a better world over the next decade.' —Sarah Stein Lubrano, author of Don’t Talk About Politics

'Anthea manages to tell these stories with a mix of directness and compassion.' —Susan Raffo, author of Liberated to the Bone

'An outstanding book and essential reading for every activist, practitioner and thinker concerned about the future of our planet.' —Emma River-Roberts, Founder and Director of the Working Class Climate Alliance

'Lawson's book is a searing self-examination of her work as a climate activist. Her brutally honest account of her experience moved me in unexpected ways' —Professor Catherine Liu, author of Virtue Hoarders

'This is a must-read... A brilliant reflection' —Martha Awojobi, creator of Uncharitable Political Education

'Lawson is one of the world’s most serious thinkers on the limits of "activism".' —Rupert Read, co-director of the Climate Majority Project and author of Why Climate Breakdown Matters

'A wise, rich and crucial book, which is helping me to do better, and will help many others.' —George Monbiot

The stories in this book show how we can build bridges in order to work together for the...


Available Editions

EDITION Paperback
ISBN 9781836431756
PRICE £10.99 (GBP)
PAGES 352

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Featured Reviews

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“How Not to Save the World” felt like sitting down over a cup of coffee with a colleague in the advocacy/NGO space, dissecting and analysing the failures not only of our sector but the people who inhabit it. I appreciated Lawson’s openness, humility, and frankness with which she approaches the subject matter, and despite some concepts being relatively well-trodden, she brings together many important conversations in easy to understand language. I appreciated the inclusion of many concrete tools, including the annex in the end of the book where she recommends books for further reading. I particularly enjoyed the authors discussion around the urgency/collapse polarity and revelation that the same frenetic energy can be found in both activists and the billionaires seeking to form the future of humanity. I highly recommend this book, not only to career advocacy specialists and campaigners, but also to anyone who seeks and struggles with the desire to make the world a better place.

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