Undercurrents: Channeling Outrage to Spark Practical Activism, reviewed

Undercurrents: Channeling Outrage to Spark Practical Activism brings the perspective of experienced global social innovation leader, scholar and speaker, Steve Davis, to bear on some of the most powerful and helpful macrotrends rippling through society today.

The book teaches readers how to harness their outrage and capitalize on global trends to instigate and encourage change across the world. The author identifies five global undercurrents with outsized importance that are shaping our world:

• Global economies are moving away from the old pyramid model into a diamond, bringing powerful new possibilities for human well-being;
• Communities are becoming the customer – rather than passive beneficiaries – as social change is increasingly led by local voices and activists;
• Equity is leveling and reshaping the field of social change and activism;
• Digital disruption, through the power of data and digital tools, impacts almost everything; and
• The middle of the journey to social change is becoming surprisingly sexy, as we focus on adapting innovation for widespread impact at scale.

Review of Undercurrents: Channeling Outrage to Spark Practical Activism

This story weaves the personal and the political well. Davis starts by describing a formative experience playing football in Thai refugee camps. Before moving onto to being a very early LGBT married couples college dorm advocate, a tech leader, and then working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This enriching range of experiences ensured that Davis had to look at his own life, the people he was trying to help, and the institutions and organisations he had to work with to try to effect change.

Davis acknowledges the impact of others who have confronted unhelpful organisations head on, through protests and boycotts, but his approach has been very much one of working on the other side of the boundary, looking to achieve change through dialogue. These approaches are of course potentially complimentary, rather than in opposition, and, over the decades we have seen massive progress in terms of awareness around LGBT+ issues, gender inequality, and the most effective routes to raising up more people out of poverty.

This book is practical, honest, and self aware, all of which ensures that it offers useful and actionable insights into how to effect real change across global societies. Davis may not have all of the answers but it is certainly an informative book and a smart read as we move into 2021 and hope to support those working to make society a better place for as many as possible.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

STEVE DAVIS is a lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business and was former CEO of PATH, a global health innovation non-profit. With degrees from Princeton University, the University of Washington, and Columbia Law School, he formerly served as CEO of Corbis, a digital media pioneer, and as the director of social innovation at McKinsey & Co., a global consultancy. He advises many organizations, and frequently speaks and writes, about the intersection of innovation, technology, and social impact. He lives with his family in Seattle, Washington.

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