Amanda Tattersall
Conscious Tribes
In a world of tension and hard choices, Conscious Tribes offers a map for rethinking how we can make a difference
The problem
It is easy to feel like the problems we face are too big and we are too small. It’s a way of seeing the world, and ourselves, that can be reinforced by others:
- Campaigns, movements and politicians are quick to enlist us as supporters, donors, petition signers, voters, or subscribers for their plans to make a difference, but this does not help us build our own.
- Faddish blogs and click-bait five-point plans promise shortcuts to social change that feel too neat to be true.
To think differently about what we can do, we need a way of seeing how taking action is possible.
We need a map that:
- Marks out the tensions and paradoxes in public life so we can be more conscious of the opportunities for action
- Makes clear that our ability make change starts when we work with others — with groups of people small or big — in tribes
Conscious Tribes is not a book title — it is a way of thinking differently about our power so we can make a difference.
Praise for conscious tribes
The book
Drawing on stories from Sydney to Hong Kong, and from schoolrooms to boardrooms, Conscious Tribes reveals how we build meaningful, lasting change. By mapping the paradoxes of public life – big and small, ‘power over’ and ‘power with’, curiosity and judgement – we gain a clearer grasp on the defining challenges of our time, and how we can navigate them with others in ‘conscious tribes’: groups that change the world around us and ourselves. It is an antidote to dark times by insisting we are more powerful than we think and asking us to reimagine the difference we can all make.
About Amanda
Amanda Tattersall is the co-founder of GetUp, the million-member Australian digital campaign organisation, and the founder of the Sydney Alliance, the country’s largest and most diverse community coalition. She is an Associate Professor in urban geography at the University of Sydney, and she has spent her career making and researching social change in Australia and across the world. She is the host of ChangeMakers Podcast. This is her third book on social change.
Explore the practice
Are you just getting started on your changemaking journey? Or an experienced community leader? Find content and training relevant to you:
In a tribe or campaign
Resources for your tribe, group or campaign to think differently about making a difference.
Experienced and Curious
Resources and tools designed to stir and challenge how you work — an invitation for new thinking.
Book Club
Reflective questions and materials to turn your reading and thinking into action.