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How Not to Save the World: Doing Good Without Annoying Everyone
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.
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.
353 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 4, 2026
About the author
Anthea Lawson
56 books173 followersAnthea Lawson, called "a new star of Historical Romance" by Booklist, has won readers with her combination of spicy love scenes and elegant prose. Her first novel, PASSIONATE, was a Best First Book finalist in the prestigious Romance Writers of America RITA awards.
Anthea also writes award-winning YA Urban Fantasy under the pen name Anthea Sharp.
Anthea also writes award-winning YA Urban Fantasy under the pen name Anthea Sharp.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 7, 2026
As someone with first-hand experience of the fraught and fissiparous nature of left-wingers, I was hoping that this would be something along the lines of Orwell’s The Lion and the Unicorn, a call from the inside for the righteous to get their heads out of their arses and take stock of the bigger picture.
Unfortunately, I think Anthea Lawson is a touch too close to the source material, and although she dances around some salient points that might resonate with an academically left readership, a lot of this reads like the overanalytical discourse that plagues the world of modern progressives.
There are more acronyms here than in a Thomas Pynchon novel, and a fair amount of specious gobbledegook that does nothing for the relatability problem that is at the heart of what makes such professional do-gooders “annoying.”
Nigel Farage is a red trousered quasi-fascist who makes no secret of his hard-right agenda, but he smokes fags and drinks pints, so people like him.
Anthea Lawson meanwhile, on the subject of working class alienation from progressive politics, says things like: ‘I am suggesting that the conditioned habitual use of our knowing a psychological defiance can hinder our perception of fundamental equality with others, even if our professed politics we are avowedly working to end equality. If we want to develop our capacity to be alongside, we have to practise putting that shield down, however exposing it feels to do so.” And I couldn’t shake the feeling that it’s this outer-space, academic detachment that’s really the problem, much more than the self-righteousness or monomania that can develop from a commitment to activism.
Still, within such circles it’s pretty daring even to suggest that their behaviour can be ‘annoying’, so fair play for poking that bear, but as the reactionary right grow ever more organised, progressives need a bit of a stronger wake-up call than this one.
Unfortunately, I think Anthea Lawson is a touch too close to the source material, and although she dances around some salient points that might resonate with an academically left readership, a lot of this reads like the overanalytical discourse that plagues the world of modern progressives.
There are more acronyms here than in a Thomas Pynchon novel, and a fair amount of specious gobbledegook that does nothing for the relatability problem that is at the heart of what makes such professional do-gooders “annoying.”
Nigel Farage is a red trousered quasi-fascist who makes no secret of his hard-right agenda, but he smokes fags and drinks pints, so people like him.
Anthea Lawson meanwhile, on the subject of working class alienation from progressive politics, says things like: ‘I am suggesting that the conditioned habitual use of our knowing a psychological defiance can hinder our perception of fundamental equality with others, even if our professed politics we are avowedly working to end equality. If we want to develop our capacity to be alongside, we have to practise putting that shield down, however exposing it feels to do so.” And I couldn’t shake the feeling that it’s this outer-space, academic detachment that’s really the problem, much more than the self-righteousness or monomania that can develop from a commitment to activism.
Still, within such circles it’s pretty daring even to suggest that their behaviour can be ‘annoying’, so fair play for poking that bear, but as the reactionary right grow ever more organised, progressives need a bit of a stronger wake-up call than this one.
May 11, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley and Oneworld for providing me with an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
“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.
“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.
June 5, 2026
For a book with the words "World" and "Everyone" in the title, this book is a little too focused on one small island, though it does become more universalist at the end and much of what she writes about Britain is applicable to the rest of the Western World.
It's a bit frustrating that she never quite gives a straight answer to people can advance the causes in which they believe without being accused of being do-gooders, white saviours, phallocentric male heroes or any other terms of disaprobation for those who seek positive change for those in the world.
Her discussions about corruption in the charity sector, hierarchies in social movements, and purity tests in movements like veganism are interesting but she is better at pointing out the issues than offering solutions as the book's title very much suggests she is able to.
An interesting read to those involved in any social justice movement nonetheless.
It's a bit frustrating that she never quite gives a straight answer to people can advance the causes in which they believe without being accused of being do-gooders, white saviours, phallocentric male heroes or any other terms of disaprobation for those who seek positive change for those in the world.
Her discussions about corruption in the charity sector, hierarchies in social movements, and purity tests in movements like veganism are interesting but she is better at pointing out the issues than offering solutions as the book's title very much suggests she is able to.
An interesting read to those involved in any social justice movement nonetheless.
September 18, 2026
No “spicy love scenes”, this book is by the other Anthea Lawson. I spent a long time finishing this book. The subject matter is quite tough going with lots of inspiration for further reading. It is not a selfhelp book, which it would be would it focus on an individual perspective. But a lot of sociology and psychology comes together here. Not just about becoming a different type of activist by understanding people better. Also being a different type of world by being different people. Dealing with urgency and collapse by forming a new culture. Hopeful.
August 25, 2026
Du behøver ikke at redde verden
Bogen kommer på mange forskellige måder igennem nogle af de ting, der kan stå i vejen for at knytte forbindelser til alle mennesker omkring de ting, det er vigtigt at forholde sig til og arbejde med. Udover at pege på de mange eksempler på manglende kontakt, som energien om at ville redde verden forhindrer, peger bogen også på hvordan vi kan organisere os på måder der sætter livet i centrum. Den kan varmt anbefales
Bogen kommer på mange forskellige måder igennem nogle af de ting, der kan stå i vejen for at knytte forbindelser til alle mennesker omkring de ting, det er vigtigt at forholde sig til og arbejde med. Udover at pege på de mange eksempler på manglende kontakt, som energien om at ville redde verden forhindrer, peger bogen også på hvordan vi kan organisere os på måder der sætter livet i centrum. Den kan varmt anbefales
Review of advance copy received from Author
The book walks us through the Save The World script – the traps changemakers fall into that stop us being as effective as we need to be – and gets us to examine our own script: the things we tell ourselves subconsciously when working in this space.
When we follow this script, we feel better about ourselves/the world, but that feeling doesn't mean we're having the impact we actually need to.
Refreshingly, HNTSTW doesn't just tell us where we're going wrong – it explores real changemakers' experiences, and Anthea's background as both an activist and a journalist makes her the perfect guide to alternative ways of working together for what matters, without alienating the people we need to convince.
When I first read the book, what struck me was that while the definition of an activist is so broad, it actually puts many people off moving from caring to acting. And yet Anthea's ideas showed me how we all benefit from looking inwards and examining our shadow side in connection to change. It's then that we learn to hold better conversations and act more effectively together, without becoming performative, annoying or prescriptive.
When we follow this script, we feel better about ourselves/the world, but that feeling doesn't mean we're having the impact we actually need to.
Refreshingly, HNTSTW doesn't just tell us where we're going wrong – it explores real changemakers' experiences, and Anthea's background as both an activist and a journalist makes her the perfect guide to alternative ways of working together for what matters, without alienating the people we need to convince.
When I first read the book, what struck me was that while the definition of an activist is so broad, it actually puts many people off moving from caring to acting. And yet Anthea's ideas showed me how we all benefit from looking inwards and examining our shadow side in connection to change. It's then that we learn to hold better conversations and act more effectively together, without becoming performative, annoying or prescriptive.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews