Book review: Blessed Unrest – Paul Hawken (2008)

Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Social Movement in History Is Restoring Grace, Justice and Beauty to the World is about the many non-profit and community organisations that are dedicated to different causes. The author Paul Hawken calls these groups the “environmental and social justice movement”.

This New York Times bestseller argues that the movement has the potential to benefit the planet despite not being recognised by the media, politicians or the public. The author has spent time researching organisations dedicated to restoring the environment and fostering social justice, from billion-dollar non-profits to single person causes.

The book explores the diversity of the movement and the strategies it uses. It contains different perspectives and offers readers a new way of looking at the world and organisations.

Examples and stories are used to illustrate the points and the text often draws parallels between now and historic events.

In contrast to the movement, the book also describes how reduced regulation for large companies, the use of our natural resources and globalisation are having an impact. The author successfully draws the connections and shows readers how events and activities are linked.

The book also includes an appendix and bibliography for readers that want to delve into the subject more and find additional information.

Blessed Unrest offers a genuine argument for optimism and provides solutions to tackling the issues that we face today.