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The Four Pivots: Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves
For readers of Emergent Strategy and Dare to Lead, an activist’s roadmap to long-term social justice impact through four simple shifts.
We need a fundamental shift in our values–a pivot in how we think, act, work, and connect. Despite what we’ve been told, the most critical mainspring of social change isn’t coalition building or problem analysis. It’s healing: deep, whole, and systemic, inside and out.
Here, Shawn Ginwright, PhD, breaks down the common myths of social movements–a set of deeply ingrained beliefs that actually hold us back from healing and achieving sustainable systemic change. He shows us why these frames don’t work, proposing instead four revolutionary pivots for better activism and collective leadership:
Awareness: from lens to mirror
Connection: from transactional to transformative relationships
Vision: from problem-fixing to possibility-creating
Presence: from hustle to flow
Supplemented with reflections, prompts, cutting-edge research, and the author’s own insights and lived experience as an African American social scientist, professor, and movement builder, The Four Pivots helps us uncover our blind spots. It shows us how to discover new lenses and boldly assert our need for connection, transformation, trust, wholeness, and healing. It gives us permission to create a better future–to acknowledge that a broken system has been predefining our dreams and limiting what we allow ourselves to imagine, but that it doesn’t have to be that way at all. Are you ready to pivot?
We need a fundamental shift in our values–a pivot in how we think, act, work, and connect. Despite what we’ve been told, the most critical mainspring of social change isn’t coalition building or problem analysis. It’s healing: deep, whole, and systemic, inside and out.
Here, Shawn Ginwright, PhD, breaks down the common myths of social movements–a set of deeply ingrained beliefs that actually hold us back from healing and achieving sustainable systemic change. He shows us why these frames don’t work, proposing instead four revolutionary pivots for better activism and collective leadership:
Awareness: from lens to mirror
Connection: from transactional to transformative relationships
Vision: from problem-fixing to possibility-creating
Presence: from hustle to flow
Supplemented with reflections, prompts, cutting-edge research, and the author’s own insights and lived experience as an African American social scientist, professor, and movement builder, The Four Pivots helps us uncover our blind spots. It shows us how to discover new lenses and boldly assert our need for connection, transformation, trust, wholeness, and healing. It gives us permission to create a better future–to acknowledge that a broken system has been predefining our dreams and limiting what we allow ourselves to imagine, but that it doesn’t have to be that way at all. Are you ready to pivot?
272 pages, ebook
First published January 25, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
February 12, 2022
This is the kind of book you start with low expectations (having read many books on social justice) and by the end of page 2 go to get a yellow highlighter.
As a middle class white man (more aptly, a flawed human being just like you), I don’t pretend to understand the deep hurts, hopes, fears or joys of people around me. I’ll tell you that this book is special. It did not shame me into guilt or make me want to run when confronted with perspectives wider than my own: it just methodically with humility lays out a heart. It welcomes you to something bigger just as Reverend King’s speeches did.
It offers encouragement to a life and community bigger than ourselves. To with humility look at our own predilections and view others through the same journey we view ourselves. Highly recommended.
As a middle class white man (more aptly, a flawed human being just like you), I don’t pretend to understand the deep hurts, hopes, fears or joys of people around me. I’ll tell you that this book is special. It did not shame me into guilt or make me want to run when confronted with perspectives wider than my own: it just methodically with humility lays out a heart. It welcomes you to something bigger just as Reverend King’s speeches did.
It offers encouragement to a life and community bigger than ourselves. To with humility look at our own predilections and view others through the same journey we view ourselves. Highly recommended.
February 2, 2022
This book joins several recent titles placing #socialjustice movements at a tipping point, suggesting that a wave of change is coming that must center healing and relationship. Current thinking can make this important shift seem like bypassing or denying urgency, and I’ve personally felt this fear and uncertainty in transforming my own relationship to activism. We may see the potential for a momentous collective shift, but also fear punitive dynamics within communities. And it’s tough to reject these dynamics and *also* avoid saviorism or dogma. The call is to come together, acknowledge our tremendous pain and grief and desire for something new, and integrate approaches: centering accountability, but also healing.
I thought Ginwright did an excellent job in this book of presenting what this change might look like at an individual and collective level, balancing acknowledgement of the astounding current level of need and oppression with a critical understanding of how our tactics need to change. The “four pivots” form an overarching framework to guide the reader through vulnerable storytelling, direct suggestions, and honest reflection on our present moment, shared history, and potential futures. The stories Ginwright chose to illustrate his points are broad enough to touch a range of readers, pulling from his own life as a parent, husband, community organizer, funder, and Black man. I also appreciated contextualized reflections from Ginwright’s past mistakes as a social justice leader, since funders and Board members are so often in CYA mode.
Through each pivot, you can consider a different mode of being: how to be more reflective, engage in transformative relationships, open up to possibility, and move through the world with greater spaciousness and adaptability. If the subtitle “Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves” appeals to you, you’ll find this book to be a valuable support. I would also recommend for organizational use.
[ARC provided by NetGalley.]
I thought Ginwright did an excellent job in this book of presenting what this change might look like at an individual and collective level, balancing acknowledgement of the astounding current level of need and oppression with a critical understanding of how our tactics need to change. The “four pivots” form an overarching framework to guide the reader through vulnerable storytelling, direct suggestions, and honest reflection on our present moment, shared history, and potential futures. The stories Ginwright chose to illustrate his points are broad enough to touch a range of readers, pulling from his own life as a parent, husband, community organizer, funder, and Black man. I also appreciated contextualized reflections from Ginwright’s past mistakes as a social justice leader, since funders and Board members are so often in CYA mode.
Through each pivot, you can consider a different mode of being: how to be more reflective, engage in transformative relationships, open up to possibility, and move through the world with greater spaciousness and adaptability. If the subtitle “Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves” appeals to you, you’ll find this book to be a valuable support. I would also recommend for organizational use.
[ARC provided by NetGalley.]
August 31, 2022
5 / 5 ⭐: Man, I do wish this book had existed while I was still working in higher Ed. It captures so many of my issues within social justice circle- scarcity mindset, lack of imagination, and non-stop grind. While I understand the root of them all, I struggled to enunciate what was so toxic about those mindsets and why they made the work so unsustainable (when embraced as The Only Way). Dr. Ginwright captures this all with clarity, love, and gentleness without making it feel any less than ground-breaking. Love, love, loved it.
February 14, 2024
this one's probably like a 3.5 - it had me in the first half, but at some point it started to be a little repetitive, and some of the ideas felt half-baked. this book definitely discusses some very significant ideas in terms of leadership and social justice, and I don't want to discredit the importance of Dr. Ginwright's work - the book just didn't land as strongly as I hoped it would. all in all, it's far from being the worst book I've had to read for a class, so I really can't complain.
July 7, 2022
I listened to this audiobook and it is a little dry at times but the information the author has to share is extremely valuable. It can help you have a more open perspective of the world and feel a little more hopeful that things can be better. Many of the things discussed I had already been doing prior to listening to this book. My actions were born out of frustration and hopelessness about so many issues that seemingly never really improve. These feelings prompted me to shift the focus of my effort to better understand the world around me. Stop putting out fires. Read this book. Take a deep breath. Highly recommend.
April 27, 2024
The only bad thing I have to say about this book was that it was so. Boring. Omg. If the content did not feel so important I would have DNF’d. I wish I had something more constructive to offer but I don’t. However — there’s so much truth and wisdom here, and though I’ve read books about healing yourself and books about social justice work, I don’t think I’ve ever read something that so clearly lays out the connection between inner healing and healing the collective. In spite of the textbook vibes this is one I think I’ll keep returning to. 4.5 rounded up.
July 10, 2023
Agreed with a lot of points, was not a fan of some others! I think I just have less faith in people than the author lol
July 3, 2023
An important read and roadmap for a better world.
June 4, 2023
Dr. Shawn Ginwright, an eduction professor and expert on youth development, describe four important pivots to improve our justice work.
1. From lens to mirror calls us to self-reflect before we analyze. He channels the likes of Grace Lee Boggs who remind us that "social change is fundamentally about individual and collective responsibility for creating, imagining, and relating together in new ways."
2. From transactional to transformative is best summarized in the words of Benjamin McBride, a community safety advocate he interviews. "The wrong first question is, What do we need to do? The right first question is, Who do we need to become?" Ginwright and McBride's approach is part of what the book describes as the new-world view of social change. As opposed to the old-world view, which "focuses entirely on building the power that's necessary to exert influence over people, processes, and events... New-world power is based in the capacity to foster and sustain a beloved community, a sense of belonging, and human connection even with those who are in your out-group (them)."
3. From problem to possibility is really a shift from problem loving to possibility thinking. "The greatest challenge before us is not simply a political, economic, or social transformation," he writes. " Rather, the greatest challenge we face is failure to try another way."
4. From hustle to flow is frame well in the words of Howard Thurman, who Ginwright sites throughout the book. "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. As yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who come alive."
1. From lens to mirror calls us to self-reflect before we analyze. He channels the likes of Grace Lee Boggs who remind us that "social change is fundamentally about individual and collective responsibility for creating, imagining, and relating together in new ways."
2. From transactional to transformative is best summarized in the words of Benjamin McBride, a community safety advocate he interviews. "The wrong first question is, What do we need to do? The right first question is, Who do we need to become?" Ginwright and McBride's approach is part of what the book describes as the new-world view of social change. As opposed to the old-world view, which "focuses entirely on building the power that's necessary to exert influence over people, processes, and events... New-world power is based in the capacity to foster and sustain a beloved community, a sense of belonging, and human connection even with those who are in your out-group (them)."
3. From problem to possibility is really a shift from problem loving to possibility thinking. "The greatest challenge before us is not simply a political, economic, or social transformation," he writes. " Rather, the greatest challenge we face is failure to try another way."
4. From hustle to flow is frame well in the words of Howard Thurman, who Ginwright sites throughout the book. "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. As yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who come alive."
July 9, 2022
Stop what you are doing and read this book. It’a one of the most important books I’ve read in the realm of racial and economic justice in the last five years.
December 27, 2023
Author Shawn A. Ginwright addresses difficult topics centered around social justice and perspectives. He offers ways to be vulnerable when in trusting relationships as well how to heal when life is unkind. Dr. Ginwright seems hopeful even though he admits there are so many problems to solve. He speaks from his experiences with and/or understanding of the AIDS epidemic, Apartheid, Domestic Violence, Education and Students of Color, Gay Rights, Police Brutality, and Racism. The book covers social issues over the past three decades. I appreciate him offering the “third perspectives” as well as the possibility for everyone to feel like they belong and have the same rights (creating possibilities). The book is covering so much! I would like to see the author cover each decade in separate books. For example, Gays Rights of the 1990s AIDS epidemic and “coming out” versus today’s LGBTQplus acceptance and safe spaces maybe similar but the movement then and now are different. I really appreciate Dr. Ginwright willingness to offer not to get stuck and comfortable. You cannot grow or build capacity staying in a safe zone. Get to know people who don’t think like you. Bridging one owns perspective with those who don’t share a similar lens/outlook allows the opportunity form a third perspective.
January 7, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “The Four Pivots” offers valuable insights for readers of all backgrounds. It transcends being just a social justice book, serving as a guide to personal growth and understanding as well. The book is structured with clear, digestible pivots and chapters, accompanied by compelling examples. A great roadmap!
August 6, 2022
I'm going to read this again and reflect. A lot. I invite you to read it- we can reflect together.
August 17, 2022
I heard Dr. Gainwright discuss this book on Brene Brown’s podcast “Unlocking Us”. As another reviewer shared, I began reading and stopped to find my highlighter. This book is powerful and transformative on a personal and social level. I believe we are all at point where the pivots are going to redirect us to peace and belonging. The realization we all want the same thing.
Adding this to the list of books the are ground shaking.
Adding this to the list of books the are ground shaking.
May 31, 2023
Really well written, accessible, and hopeful.
August 15, 2023
Shawn Ginwright’s The Four Pivots is a transformative contribution to the field of youth development and education. With relentless conviction, he elucidates a holistic framework that addresses the multifaceted needs of both marginalized youth and communities. He emphasizes four interwoven ‘pivots’ that fall under the concepts of awareness, connection, vision, and presence.
Ginwright challenges our notions of leadership through the self and a lot of the self-inflicted issues of social justice movements. Ginwright holds no punches as he confronts the ugliness of social justice work and movements. Though well-intended, they fail to achieve their goals and aspirations as a group. His work requires an introspective journey of the self and a bolstering of self-awareness. This is not only to become one’s best self in order to lead or be a contributor to a group but Ginwright’s main purpose in this book is to heal the world. And only by journeying within ourselves and rectifying avoidable problems within the social justice realm can we truly heal the world.
Ginwright includes a lot of personal anecdotes to support his emphasis on healing which underscores the significance of acknowledging and addressing trauma and emotional well-being in youth development. By also foregrounding ‘belonging’, Ginwright highlights the importance of creating inclusive environments that foster a sense of community and group identity. He also believes that engaging and being engaged within your community fills the necessity of meaningful and participatory learning experiences that resonate with the lived realities of young people, which a lot of his work is centered around.
The limitations of his work though are glaring. There is a level of complexity to the four pivots and practical implementation can prove difficult as those who are taking things from this book such as educators, policymakers, and facilitators, might struggle to implement all four pivots into their work. That can be based on cultural and contextual variations. A lot of Ginwright’s work revolves around Black youth development, even establishing a camp for Black children named Camp Akili. Much like the camp, his work solely revolving around Black youth development is inhibited by self-segregation. It reveals a slight overemphasis on youth development. This is also to take into account, the lack of empirical evidence to support his pivots. Although, while sharing powerful anecdotes to keep the reader interested and to better illustrate the four pivots, the lack of empirical data can question the long-term sustainability of his ideas.
In conclusion, Ginwright’s Four Pivots presents a holistic approach to youth and community development by emphasizing healing, belonging, and engagement. While very insightful, its complexity, overemphasis on youth specifically colored youth, and lack of empirical evidence need to be subject to careful consideration if these ideas are to be sustainable for the long term. The framework of the four pivots should be tempered by these limitations, enabling practitioners to adapt it how they see fit in order to create contexts of meaningful impact.
Ginwright challenges our notions of leadership through the self and a lot of the self-inflicted issues of social justice movements. Ginwright holds no punches as he confronts the ugliness of social justice work and movements. Though well-intended, they fail to achieve their goals and aspirations as a group. His work requires an introspective journey of the self and a bolstering of self-awareness. This is not only to become one’s best self in order to lead or be a contributor to a group but Ginwright’s main purpose in this book is to heal the world. And only by journeying within ourselves and rectifying avoidable problems within the social justice realm can we truly heal the world.
Ginwright includes a lot of personal anecdotes to support his emphasis on healing which underscores the significance of acknowledging and addressing trauma and emotional well-being in youth development. By also foregrounding ‘belonging’, Ginwright highlights the importance of creating inclusive environments that foster a sense of community and group identity. He also believes that engaging and being engaged within your community fills the necessity of meaningful and participatory learning experiences that resonate with the lived realities of young people, which a lot of his work is centered around.
The limitations of his work though are glaring. There is a level of complexity to the four pivots and practical implementation can prove difficult as those who are taking things from this book such as educators, policymakers, and facilitators, might struggle to implement all four pivots into their work. That can be based on cultural and contextual variations. A lot of Ginwright’s work revolves around Black youth development, even establishing a camp for Black children named Camp Akili. Much like the camp, his work solely revolving around Black youth development is inhibited by self-segregation. It reveals a slight overemphasis on youth development. This is also to take into account, the lack of empirical evidence to support his pivots. Although, while sharing powerful anecdotes to keep the reader interested and to better illustrate the four pivots, the lack of empirical data can question the long-term sustainability of his ideas.
In conclusion, Ginwright’s Four Pivots presents a holistic approach to youth and community development by emphasizing healing, belonging, and engagement. While very insightful, its complexity, overemphasis on youth specifically colored youth, and lack of empirical evidence need to be subject to careful consideration if these ideas are to be sustainable for the long term. The framework of the four pivots should be tempered by these limitations, enabling practitioners to adapt it how they see fit in order to create contexts of meaningful impact.
April 18, 2024
I read this book over the past year as part of a diversity, equity, and inclusion cohort, and appreciated having the chance to read it in chunks, reflect, and talk it over with other readers. Some of the most helpful concepts were:
The four lies of social change:
1. Deep change can be achieved through shallow solutions
2. The more power we have, the more change we can create
3. We can strategize solutions for social change (this one is BIG for me)
4. It's us vs. them
To change our perspective we have to "...interrogate our mental models, question our assumptions, and ponder our meaning making about events we see in the world." This includes the "deeply held mental model of who is human, who belongs, and who deserves."
It's harder to identify and articulate problems than to imagine new solutions- and moving from this 'problem loving' mindset to 'possibility-creating' mindset is HARD. But worth it.
It was also helpful to hear about justice efforts- and their failures- from the point of view of an African-American man about my age but from a different place and with different life experiences. A different lens always helps efforts to see a more complete view. I have few quibbles with Ginwright's work; the final section on moving from 'grind to flow' feels a bit idealistic, but maybe he'd say I was just 'problem loving.' :D I also have some discomfort with the way he dealt with his discussion with a childhood acquaintance of very different political views- but perhaps that is the type of transparency and vulnerability that we need to practice. On the whole, this is a solid method for reconsidering a personal approach to life and social justice, with some helpful (if somewhat intuitive) methods for self-reflection and relating across difference.
The four lies of social change:
1. Deep change can be achieved through shallow solutions
2. The more power we have, the more change we can create
3. We can strategize solutions for social change (this one is BIG for me)
4. It's us vs. them
To change our perspective we have to "...interrogate our mental models, question our assumptions, and ponder our meaning making about events we see in the world." This includes the "deeply held mental model of who is human, who belongs, and who deserves."
It's harder to identify and articulate problems than to imagine new solutions- and moving from this 'problem loving' mindset to 'possibility-creating' mindset is HARD. But worth it.
It was also helpful to hear about justice efforts- and their failures- from the point of view of an African-American man about my age but from a different place and with different life experiences. A different lens always helps efforts to see a more complete view. I have few quibbles with Ginwright's work; the final section on moving from 'grind to flow' feels a bit idealistic, but maybe he'd say I was just 'problem loving.' :D I also have some discomfort with the way he dealt with his discussion with a childhood acquaintance of very different political views- but perhaps that is the type of transparency and vulnerability that we need to practice. On the whole, this is a solid method for reconsidering a personal approach to life and social justice, with some helpful (if somewhat intuitive) methods for self-reflection and relating across difference.
April 30, 2023
Most book describing the activist process describe almost frantic and ceaseless movement to make the world a different place. From this perspective, Shawn Ginwright's The Four Pivots is almost an anti-activist book. Instead, he recommends four "pivots" that are largely internal: examining oneself, transforming one's self and relationships, seeing possibilities rather than only problems, and finding flow. When, for example, has such a book focused on and advocated for rest and sleep?
But Ginwright's insights are in line with Tania Israel's, Beyond Your Bubble , or Sharon Salzberg's Real Change. It is our ability to listen and who we are that changes people, not any loud, rational (or irrational) argument. Reminds me of a 1977 Nuance ad: "If you want to capture someone's attention, whisper"
What I've said here does not mean that I'm accusing any of these writers of passivity or complaisance. Sometimes, paradoxically, we are more successful at changing a person's mind by our passion, commitment, our willingness to listen, our willingness to be authentic. Try it.
But Ginwright's insights are in line with Tania Israel's, Beyond Your Bubble , or Sharon Salzberg's Real Change. It is our ability to listen and who we are that changes people, not any loud, rational (or irrational) argument. Reminds me of a 1977 Nuance ad: "If you want to capture someone's attention, whisper"
What I've said here does not mean that I'm accusing any of these writers of passivity or complaisance. Sometimes, paradoxically, we are more successful at changing a person's mind by our passion, commitment, our willingness to listen, our willingness to be authentic. Try it.
February 17, 2023
This is not so much a review as a journal entry. This book landed in places of active enquiry for me so I’m making notes for ongoing work (ha and to hold myself accountable for them by writing them here)
I enjoyed this book, arriving to answer questions and poke into others where I’ve work still to do.
Weaves together integrity, vulnerability, and working across difference with radical empathy with heartfelt stories, told in a community organising way entirely at home in this big hearted practical book.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by the author over a few evenings, and feel the need now to go back to words on a page to scribble in the margins, piece together the work here with other profound material, as well as to help me more fully engage in exercises presented.
The pivots
Awareness, connection, vision, flow … they sound familiar but the contexts and contents are fresh.
The telling of awareness shifting from lens to mirror, a sweet wise way to bring this in! Connection from transactional to transformative, feels like pure community organising … and here I would like to see more practical examples in currently transactional situations. That could be a whole other book.
Vision, this part I think I wanted some of the later content earlier, and that’s an editing thing.
Something felt a little unsatisfying about introducing the term design thinking almost flippantly, but still I appreciated how the flip to positive creative thinking was introduced. Nails the problem with problem thinking! Surely required reading for all government people.
Talking to the ‘other’ or ‘othered’ in the last section felt like a strong call for brave and radical empathy.
And it’s from that place where I wonder where I seek to put this into place in the public sphere.
Is it possible to make deeper explorations like this one the norm? How might we support *that* to happen at scale?
Anyway, back to ordering the paperback to dig in deeper and of course share.
I enjoyed this book, arriving to answer questions and poke into others where I’ve work still to do.
Weaves together integrity, vulnerability, and working across difference with radical empathy with heartfelt stories, told in a community organising way entirely at home in this big hearted practical book.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by the author over a few evenings, and feel the need now to go back to words on a page to scribble in the margins, piece together the work here with other profound material, as well as to help me more fully engage in exercises presented.
The pivots
Awareness, connection, vision, flow … they sound familiar but the contexts and contents are fresh.
The telling of awareness shifting from lens to mirror, a sweet wise way to bring this in! Connection from transactional to transformative, feels like pure community organising … and here I would like to see more practical examples in currently transactional situations. That could be a whole other book.
Vision, this part I think I wanted some of the later content earlier, and that’s an editing thing.
Something felt a little unsatisfying about introducing the term design thinking almost flippantly, but still I appreciated how the flip to positive creative thinking was introduced. Nails the problem with problem thinking! Surely required reading for all government people.
Talking to the ‘other’ or ‘othered’ in the last section felt like a strong call for brave and radical empathy.
And it’s from that place where I wonder where I seek to put this into place in the public sphere.
Is it possible to make deeper explorations like this one the norm? How might we support *that* to happen at scale?
Anyway, back to ordering the paperback to dig in deeper and of course share.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 11, 2022
I read this book over the last couple of months. As I was reading, I would ask myself how his proposed pivots and overarching theme on healing would impact me in my relationship with myself, others, and students.
His work is a testament to how framing can reconfigure everything. For example, if the true work of social justice is to heal and create belonging, what are the actions I can take to make that possible? I learned it’s through seeking truth revealed to me like a mirror, doing the hard work of transformative relationships, reorienting goals to states of possibility, and prioritizing flow and rest.
He aptly reminds us throughout these pivots that there are hard truths to reckon with and limitations to confront.
At the heart of his teachings, he is asking us to focus on bettering ourselves so that we may better the world. His many anecdotes made him very relatable in this important and personal journey.
His work is a testament to how framing can reconfigure everything. For example, if the true work of social justice is to heal and create belonging, what are the actions I can take to make that possible? I learned it’s through seeking truth revealed to me like a mirror, doing the hard work of transformative relationships, reorienting goals to states of possibility, and prioritizing flow and rest.
He aptly reminds us throughout these pivots that there are hard truths to reckon with and limitations to confront.
At the heart of his teachings, he is asking us to focus on bettering ourselves so that we may better the world. His many anecdotes made him very relatable in this important and personal journey.
October 2, 2022
Won an ARC in a giveaway for an honest review - thanks, I love it
I have and will keep recommending this book to my colleagues, peers, and friends.
Within the first 20 pages, I knew this is going to be the book defining 2022 for me.
Acknowledging, but not dealing with, the feeling of burnout I've had was what set the stage for Dr. Ginwright's points to really hit home. It took me a while to get through the ~230 pages, because I needed/wanted the time to sit with the themes and exercises (and then: chapter 11).
Coming out of a global pandemic and burnout of virtual life, Dr. Ginwright's ideas and suggestions made me feel more hopeful about the communities we have and the futures we can imagine together. We need time and space to heal and connect, and whoever is interested in that - read this book.
I have and will keep recommending this book to my colleagues, peers, and friends.
Within the first 20 pages, I knew this is going to be the book defining 2022 for me.
Acknowledging, but not dealing with, the feeling of burnout I've had was what set the stage for Dr. Ginwright's points to really hit home. It took me a while to get through the ~230 pages, because I needed/wanted the time to sit with the themes and exercises (and then: chapter 11).
Coming out of a global pandemic and burnout of virtual life, Dr. Ginwright's ideas and suggestions made me feel more hopeful about the communities we have and the futures we can imagine together. We need time and space to heal and connect, and whoever is interested in that - read this book.
August 27, 2023
This was another book for work. I really liked the messaging here about the four pivots for social movements. Though I still have a hard time imagining a world where everyone makes this change, and unless everyone is willing to commit to reflecting, building transformative relationships, possibility-creating, and seeking flow, I'm not sure if social movements will really move forward.
Though I think these are great personal values, and I certainly would like to adopt my own way of being to them. I just don't enough faith in everyone else.
Also, I can't fully get behind shared vulnerability at work...I'm not particularly interested in sharing my personal history and struggles in that context.
Fully support Dr. Ginwright's ideas, but the cynic in me just can't see the practical shift in our society. I wish I could be so idealistic.
Though I think these are great personal values, and I certainly would like to adopt my own way of being to them. I just don't enough faith in everyone else.
Also, I can't fully get behind shared vulnerability at work...I'm not particularly interested in sharing my personal history and struggles in that context.
Fully support Dr. Ginwright's ideas, but the cynic in me just can't see the practical shift in our society. I wish I could be so idealistic.
May 5, 2024
This is probably a 3.5 for me! I feel like the ending was a bit of a let down for me? I appreciated reflecting on “the wilderness” and balancing grace+accountability, but think I wanted something that wrapped up the book more and I left feeling a bit confused about where to go after that last chapter.
Overall, I liked this book. I think it raised some thought-provoking ideas and I appreciated it as a book to read and discuss with my co-workers. The stories were compelling and while I thought some chapters were a bit round about or longer/more repetitive than they needed be, I’m definitely taking some golden nuggets like:
- the reflection questions in section 1 to think about work and your relationship to your work
- the challenge of problem loving
- shifting away from problem-loving language // the language of the problems we’re trying to move away from
Overall, I liked this book. I think it raised some thought-provoking ideas and I appreciated it as a book to read and discuss with my co-workers. The stories were compelling and while I thought some chapters were a bit round about or longer/more repetitive than they needed be, I’m definitely taking some golden nuggets like:
- the reflection questions in section 1 to think about work and your relationship to your work
- the challenge of problem loving
- shifting away from problem-loving language // the language of the problems we’re trying to move away from
April 28, 2024
Gilwright presents a very contemporary take on the internal psychology of social movements with a paradigm that I found very personally resonant. The ideas found in this book are grounded well in our contemporary experience and Gilwright presents them in academic and yet accessible ways. Gilwright bounces between his own personal experience and current events very well. The only thing I think I found lacking about the book was that the ending did not seem as well developed as the beginning. The fourth pivot, which I felt was one of the most relevant for people in all walks of professional life, did not feel as well discussed as the other pivots. Overall, would definitely recommend this book broadly.
February 27, 2022
Get out your highlighter for this one! You're going to need it. I also recommend a journal or notebook. The Four Pivots by Shawn Ginwright covers many areas for not only self-improvement but for improving society. I can see this book being used as required reading for many college classes, especially psychology, sociology, and criminal justice. Do let that deter you. This book is also ideal for anyone who is interested in self-improvement, or anyone interested in becoming a better parent who can teach their children more and better psychological tools.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
September 15, 2022
This book really challenged me in all the right ways about how to level up my justice fighting practices. The centering on the rehumanizing of the people we least want to humanize and how that reflexively pushes us to rehumanize ourselves spoke to me.
I think these pivots can really take us from simply identifying the problems we want to fight to actually imagining, creating the new world we want to live in. Something I believe is imperative that we learn sooner rather than later.
I think these pivots can really take us from simply identifying the problems we want to fight to actually imagining, creating the new world we want to live in. Something I believe is imperative that we learn sooner rather than later.
November 2, 2022
This might be my favorite book I've read this year?! When I finished it, I immediately wanted to re-read it from the beginning. Everything Dr. Ginwright writes in this book felt incredibly important and relevant to the social justice work that I'm familiar with.
Dr. Ginwright reimagines justice in a way that just rang true for me. I hope that every activist, organizer, and wannabe changemaker gives this book a read.
Dr. Ginwright reimagines justice in a way that just rang true for me. I hope that every activist, organizer, and wannabe changemaker gives this book a read.
December 5, 2022
Read this book on a leave from my job in education and it truly rekindled my hope and excitement for the work, while helping me be at peace with my need for restoration. Dr. Ginwright speaks from his heart and I felt like I was talking to someone I know. He shares so many incredible insights and ideas to power up the important work that needs to be done while caring for ourselves. Highly recommend!
July 28, 2023
Social justice advocacy is hard work. It requires working on ourselves and working on our unjust society. I really enjoyed and needed to read this book. It helped me do some self-reflection and helped me continue to value others around me as I do the work. Great anecdotes throughout. And his background as a sociologist shines in the book. I would commend this work to anyone doing the tough work of social advocacy.
March 31, 2022
Among other things, Dr. Ginwright talks about what we need to do for ourselves to begin to heal the world. The Four Pivots is about social justice, but it’s also about how we move forward from right here. "Healing is the capacity to restore our humanity and care for ourselves even in the midst of our fear." The seems like a positive thing to hold in our hearts for this moment.
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