“Inv
aluable. This is THE manual for anyone with a deep commitment or only a daydream about creating a more just and sympathetic world. Nick Cooney has boiled it all down to show how simple it can be to turn compassion, rage or angst into intelligent action. Cooney offers fascinating real life examples that perfectly illustrate how easy it is to triumph over human reluctance to change if you just know how. Contains tried and true strategies that, like ju-jitsu, turn the opponents’ and fence-sitters’ objections on their head, without a fight. This should be mandatory reading for everyone with a good cause and a good heart.”
Praise for the Book
–Jason Del Gandio, PhD, author of Rhetoric for Radicals: A Handbook for 21st Century Activists
“Change of Heart gives activists the psychological toolkit they need to lead the public down a more compassionate road. If you want to create a better world, read this book!”
-Rory Freedman, co-author of the New York Times Bestseller Skinny Bitch
“This is a must read for any grassroots nonprofit activist group looking to save the world! My head is spinning with all the ideas and tactics revealed in this book that I want to try out at my organization. For years psychologists have been accumulating a wealth of knowledge on the key factors that determine whether people will change their beliefs and behavior. Cooney has done a yeoman’s job of plowing through the research and bringing highly practical, easily digestible bits of information back to those of us on the front lines trying to convince people of a better way to live. Without a doubt, Change of Heart has proven to me that an old dog like my 43-year-old environmental organization can stand to learn some new tricks. Well done, Cooney!”
-Eric Cheung, Esq., Senior Attorney, Clean Air Council
“Change of Heart has helped my understanding of not only how the public reacts to the labor movement and workers rights, but how our own members will be motivated and empowered to take action as well. A concise and complete handbook for anyone looking to effectively get their message to the masses.”
-Dena Fleno, Council 4 AFSCME Union
“If we want to create a more compassionate world, we need to understand what motivates people to make compassionate choices. Change of Heart provides fresh, research-based insight into how non-profits and individuals can more effectively create social change through a better understanding of the human mind.”
-Gene Baur, Director, Farm Sanctuary
“Change of Heart is packed with surprising research and straightforward examples that will make advocacy organizations – be they small college clubs or international non-profits – more effective in spreading progressive social change.”
-Sarat Colling, Political Media Review
“Social justice advocates often lack the research needed to support successful campaigns. Cooney helps fill in this gap by culling through social psychology research and teaching nonprofits and grassroots organizations how to develop more effective campaigns.”
-Carol Glasser, Humane Research Council
“Finally an effective grassroots activist tells us directly and simply how to win a campaign and the hearts and minds of the public. Read this book and act!”
-Anthony J. Nocella, II, co-editor of Igniting a Revolution: Voices in Defense of the Earth
“One thing is clear about this century. We have to fast-track changes in our relations with, and practices toward, other species. Nick Cooney has provided us with important food for thought in examining how we might intensify the process.”
- Richard Twine PhD., author of Animals as Biotechnology – Ethics, Sustainability and Critical Animal Studies
About the Book
Scientific research has generated a wealth of information on how people can be persuaded to alter their behaviors, yet this body of knowledge has been largely ignored by those working to improve society. Change of Heart: What Psychology Can Teach Us About Spreading Social Change brings this information to light so that non-profits, community organizers and others can make science-driven decisions in their advocacy work. The book examines over 80 years of empirical research in areas including social psychology, communication studies, diffusion studies, network systems and social marketing, distilling the highlights into easy-to-use advice and serving as a psychology primer for anyone wanting to spread progressive social change.
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About the Author
Nick Cooney is the founder and director of The Humane League, an animal advocacy organization based in Philadelphia, PA that focuses on farm animal protection issues. Nick has written for publications including The Philadelphia Inquirer and Z Magazine, and his advocacy work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including Time Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, and National Public Radio. Nick holds a degree in Non-Violence Studies from Hofstra University and formerly worked conducting nutrition education programs with the University of Pennsylvania’s Urban Nutrition Initiative.
Humor is a way to get beyond the relativity in advocy communication. Whenever ANY drama or ego (ie graphic images) is used in advocacy communication, the problem of relativity arises, ie the “Yes, but…(insert anything that, in one’s subjective opinion, is a more pressing issue,) ie “I have to survive”, “______”(ieinsert war, famine, capital punishment, etc.,) is MORE urgent”. With humor, especially if the humor is one of surprize, and reaches the listeners mind, heart, soul, etc., emotionally, intuitively, instinctually, ie without any abstraction(ie without any limitations of ego and/or drama) then there is an AUTOMATIC response, ie of laughter and this bypasses the subjective relativizing and opinionating. A subliminal “seed” and maybe an absolute “seed” is planted, that can be developed. Otherwise instead of being communication at all, the language is part of the problem- of the numbness of maintaining the status quo that is mistaken for authentic empathetic living.