Conscious Tribes

This is a roadmap for social change – for anyone who wants to create a better world.

'A deeply personal and essential guide.' – Craig Reucassel

'Epic read! A powerful reminder that change begins when you stop asking for permission.' – Senator Fatima Payman

A CALL TO RETHINK HOW WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN A WORLD MARKED BY TENSIONS AND DIFFICULT CHOICES, FROM A LEADING COMMUNITY ORGANISER AND CO-FOUNDER OF GETUP.

Many of us feel that meaningful change is beyond our reach, whether due to global crises like war and climate change or pressures closer to home.

Conscious Tribes describes a way forward. Drawing on stories from Sydney to Hong Kong, and from schoolrooms to boardrooms, Amanda Tattersall reveals how we build meaningful, lasting change, and how we can shape it with others.

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. Making a difference means navigating them with others in ‘conscious tribes’: groups that change the world around us and ourselves.

Conscious Tribes draws on decades of work building organisations, movements and campaigns, grounded in the stories of activists and unlikely agitators. It is an antidote to dark times by insisting we are more powerful than we think, asking us to reimagine the difference we can all make.

About the Author

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 the art of social change in Australia and across the world.

She has been active on issues as diverse as climate change, workplace rights, peace, mental health, housing and education. Her previous books include Power in Coalition (2010) and People Power in Cities (2026). She is the host of the ChangeMakers podcast, which is now in its tenth season and has over 2 million downloads.