So. Protests, civil disobedience, and acts of “disorder” are once again on the public’s mind.
And that brings me to this book which I first saw randomly on my library shelves and was very curious- both by the title and in the incongruous cover art. So, after simmering for a while, I eventually borrowed the digital audiobook from my library and gave it a listen.
(Image includes an affiliate link at Bookshop.org)
Much of it was familiar since I began my undergraduate degree as a psychology major who took both sociology and social psychology. What Dr. Kashdan is doing in this book is what I had hoped to find in the psychology field, but didn’t.
He’s taking psychological theories and understandings of how the human mind works, both alone and in groups, and making it practical to apply it to positive social change via principled rebels.
These rebels are those who see the status quo is wrong, harmful, or unjust and move to make it better (Rather like a certain rebel alliance… it is May 4th after all, which is an unsettling parallel to have Star Wars Day and the Kent State shootings on the same day). Not rebels who seek to overthrow the status quo to put themselves in charge, or simply wish to cause pain, or want power (like a certain Chancellor who also ran a Separatist movement).
Each chapter addresses a specific topic or issue that either helps or hinders achieving the goals of insubordination and he breaks these down into what he calls recipe steps. These are actionable steps to apply the information from the chapter. Some of them are actions to do, some of them are actions not to do, and some are reflective and introspective questions.
Not only are they useful, but they reframe much of the rhetoric we hear about insubordinates, rebels, and, my personal favorite, renegades. It’s very easy for people who find themselves comfortable in their majority position to look down on people who disrupt the status quo (see Martin Luther King, Jr.’s response to white moderates) as pushing too hard, being too radical, or doing it for clout. Here are some points Kashdan pointed out: humans like the comfort of conformity. We are social creatures, and we dislike being outside the group. So for people to go against that grain is a huge step in itself, especially when the consequences can be permanent and lifelong. Activists are pushing against both social instinct and the social cost- meaning their convictions are so strong that they are overcoming human nature to make their point stand.
That takes the air out of a lot of the talk meant to deligitimize social movements, doesn’t it?
But I suggest everyone read it, especially if you’re in any sort of progressive or activist circle, or even if you’ve realized your workplace is toxic. It will reshape how you consider things, what you want to do, and how you can hope to achieve them.
(This post was originally published on my previous blog)