Characteristics of successful social movements
Leslie Crutchfield’s book How Change Happens: Why Some Social Movements Succeed While Others Don't, argues social movements that succeed in creating systemic change share six key characteristics. These elements enable movements to build power, sustain momentum, and achieve long-term impact. These six elements align with our own research and experience, and inform our organisational strategy.
1. Turning Grassroots into Grassroots Gold
Successful movements prioritise grassroots engagement, mobilising everyday people rather than relying solely on elite leadership.
They decentralise power and encourage widespread participation, fostering a culture where ordinary supporters take ownership of the movement.
For example, the U.S. marriage equality movement grew by engaging local activists, volunteers, and community leaders, not just national advocacy groups.
✅ We’re applying this by:
focusing on empowering local animal freedom groups, ensuring they have the tools, training, and autonomy to take action
building strong grassroots networks that can mobilise in response to key events and policy opportunities.
2. Sharpening a 10/10/10/20 = 50 Vision
Successful movements maintain a clear, long-term vision while securing incremental wins that build momentum.
The 10/10/10/20 = 50 formula suggests that movements should focus efforts where they can influence policy, business, culture, and grassroots organising simultaneously.
They balance pragmatism with bold ambitions, pushing for major transformation while winning winnable fights along the way.
✅We’re applying this by:
experimenting with short-term campaign goals (e.g., ending greyhound racing, banning testing on dogs) that build power and momentum that will contribute to long-term systemic change (e.g., phasing out factory farming)
Building grassroots, NGO and narrative networks that can simultaneously focus on engaging policymakers, businesses, media, and grassroots activists to shift the Overton Window.
3. Changing Hearts and Policy
Movements succeed when they combine cultural shifts (changing public opinion and narratives) with policy reform.
Narrative change lays the foundation for legal and political victories, while policy wins reinforce the new societal norms.
For example, the anti-tobacco movement first shifted public perception about smoking through education and media before securing legislative bans.
✅ We’re applying this by:
investing in storytelling and narrative power to make animal freedom a mainstream value, not a fringe issue
building networks that can combine legislative advocacy (e.g., policy bans on testing on animals) with public pressure campaigns that reframe societal attitudes toward our fellow animals.
4. Reckoning with Adversarial Allies
Successful movements embrace tensions and disagreements, understanding that coalitions require diverse perspectives.
They manage internal conflict constructively, ensuring that ideological differences do not fracture the movement.
For example, the climate movement has historically struggled with divisions between radical activists and mainstream policy advocates, but successful campaigns have managed to unify these factions for key battles.
✅ We’re applying this by:
helping to bridge the divide between grassroots activists and national NGOs, working to increase alignment and synergy without uniformity.
creating networks which foster a culture of strategic disagreement, where movement actors challenge each other without undermining the broader mission.
5. Breaking from Business as Usual
Winning movements challenge institutional norms and adopt non-traditional approaches to power-building.
They experiment with innovative tactics, combining traditional advocacy, direct action, digital organising, and cultural interventions.
For example: The gun control movement in the U.S. historically relied on policy lobbying, but after the Parkland his-school shooting, it embraced youth-led activism, walkouts, and corporate pressure campaigns.
✅ We’re applying this by:
creating networks that embrace diverse strategies, such as strategic litigation, corporate pressure, and nonviolent direct action.
cultivating grassroots and NGO networks that can enable local campaigns to feed into national-level strategies.
6. Being Leader-Full (Not Leaderless or Leader-Led)
Successful movements are "leader-full", meaning they develop many leaders rather than relying on a single figurehead.
They build leadership pipelines, ensuring that new voices and organisers continuously emerge.
For example: The civil rights movement cultivated thousands of local leaders, making it resilient even when key figures were targeted.
✅ We’re applying this by:
developing resources, trainings, and coaching programmes to cultivate new grassroots leaders in local groups
ensuring that leadership is distributed, so that movement momentum is not dependent on a few central figures or organisations.
Summary
We are applying these elements by:
Expanding grassroots power, ensuring local activists are at the heart of the movement
Balancing long-term vision with short-term wins, creating momentum for structural change.
Combining cultural and policy shifts, making animal freedom an inevitable societal transformation.
Navigating internal tensions strategically, ensuring the movement remains strong and cohesive.
Embracing innovation and adaptability, using diverse tactics to drive systemic change.
Investing in leadership development, ensuring the movement remains dynamic and leader-full.
