Social Change Lab is a social movement research team located in London, England, that examines ways to accelerate left-of-center social activism and provides that information to activists and philanthropists. Its research indicates that activist groups that conduct disruptive civil actions and protests are more effective than the larger nonprofit organizations that focus on research and education, advocacy, and policy change.

Social Change Lab founder James Ozden had previously been involved in groups that leverage radical disruptive activism such as Animal Rebellion and Extinction Rebellion. ¹

Background

Social Change Lab is a small team of four members, supplemented with volunteers, that performs research on the relative success of disruptive social change campaign strategies and tactics. It shares the research results and recommendations with activists and philanthropists to encourage more effective approaches to left-wing activism. ² Social Change Lab is aligned with the Effective Altruist movement created by the Centre for Effective Altruism. ³

It was founded in November 2021 by social movement researcher James Ozden in London, England. Ozden had previously been involved with organizations that leverage radical disruptive activism such as Animal Rebellion and Extinction Rebellion. ⁴

Research

Social Change Lab conducts its research using reviews of existing information on protests and social movements, interviews with policymakers and other experts, public opinion polling, and cost-effectiveness analysis. ⁵

In July 2022, Social Change Lab published Protest movements: How effective are they? This report was the result of six months of research with a focus on climate change and animal welfare. It included a case study of Extinction Rebellion, a climate activist organization that uses disruptive protests to communicate its demands. The conclusion was that “protest movements have significant measurable impacts […] on public opinion, voting behaviour, and policy.” ⁶

In May 2023, Social Change Lab published How philanthropists can support social movements – and why they must, a paper that described the funding gaps that activist groups experience. It claims that the majority of donations go to large nonprofit organizations such as Greenpeace and World Wildlife Fund, but the smaller activist groups are more effective in bringing attention to issues such as climate change and animal activism. The paper describes examples of successful activism including Black Lives Matter protests that, according to academics, resulted in a 2 percent increase in the Democratic vote share, and Extinction Rebellion’s mass actions that allegedly increased the public’s concern for climate change by ten percent. ⁷

Publicity

The results of Social Change Lab research have been featured in several publications. An April 2022 Stanford Social Innovation Review article written by Ozden claims that disruptive protest movements such as Extinction Rebellion, Sunrise Movement, and Occupy Wall Street should get greater funding than they do because they are more “cost effective” than the charities and NGOs that work on the same issues. ⁹

In a September 2023 article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy that described the protest by Extinction Rebellion that halted the U.S. Open for 49 minutes, Ozden claimed that the “highly disruptive Extinction Rebellion had a higher return on investment than the top-rated climate charity, Clean Air Task Force.” ¹⁰

In September 2023, Al Jazeera published an article about Just Stop Oil’s protests at Premier League football games, the British Grand Prix, the World Snooker Championship, and other major sporting events in the U.K. Social Change Lab’s research claiming that these disruptive protests are effective was referenced. ¹¹

Leadership

James Ozden was Social Change Lab’s founder and director. Ozden earned a master’s in science from University College London and worked as a data scientist for six months. In 2019, he joined Animal Rebellion, an activist group based in the United Kingdom that uses civil disobedience to protest animal farming and its impact on the environment. At the same time he was on the strategy team for Extinction Rebellion, ¹² a radical climate activist organization that uses disruptive civil disobedience to gain attention to its demands. ¹³

In 2021, Ozden attended the Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program that assists individuals with launching a charity, then founded Social Change Lab. He continued as director until September 2023 when he moved into an advisory role. At that time, he joined family philanthropy Mobius as the director of philanthropy. ¹⁴ Ozden is involved in several climate related projects, including community building for Effective Environmentalism, ¹⁵ a subcommunity of Effective Altruism, a movement created by Centre for Effective Altruism that works to define the most effective approaches to social change. ¹⁶

Mabli Jones joined Social Change Lab as the organization’s director in September 2023. Previously she was deputy director of Asylum Matters, worked in UK politics, and worked for LGBT charity Stonewall. ¹⁷

1. LinkedIn – James Ozden. Accessed September 27, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-ozden-2b2aa8200/details/experience/
2. “About Us.” Social Change Lab. Accessed September 27, 2023. https://www.socialchangelab.org/about
3. James Ozden, Sam Glover. Protest movements: How effective are they? Section 1.4 Social Change Lab. Published July 2022. Accessed September 27, 2023. https://www.socialchangelab.org/_files/ugd/503ba4_9b649b50484748bfbae215d675084118.pdf Link from Social Change Lab – Research. https://www.socialchangelab.org/research
4. LinkedIn – James Ozden. Accessed September 27, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-ozden-2b2aa8200/details/experience/
5. Social Change Lab website. Accessed September 27, 2023. https://www.socialchangelab.org/
6. James Ozden, Sam Glover. Protest movements: How effective are they? Social Change Lab. July 2022. Accessed September 27, 2023. https://www.socialchangelab.org/_files/ugd/503ba4_9b649b50484748bfbae215d675084118.pdf Link from Social Change Lab – Research. https://www.socialchangelab.org/research
7. Cathy Rogers, James Ozden. How philanthropists can support social movements – and why they must. Social Change Lab. May 2023. Accessed September 27, 2023. https://www.socialchangelab.org/_files/ugd/503ba4_96f9d46d03b4441fb889b1452105c7cf.pdf Link from Social Change Lab – Research. https://www.socialchangelab.org/research
9. James Ozden. “Protest Movements Could Be More Effective Than the Best Charities.” Stanford Social Innovation Review. April 14, 2022. Accessed September 27, 2023. https://ssir.org/articles/entry/protest_movements_could_be_more_effective_than_the_best_charities[/note

   Vox’s November 2022 article on the most high-impact, cost-effective climate change organizations referenced Social Change Lab’s research that claims groups like Sunrise Movement and Extinction Rebellion “may have cost-effectively helped to win policy changes (in the US and UK, respectively) that avert carbon emissions.” ⁸ Sigal Samuel. “Want to fight climate change effectively? Here’s where to donate your money.” Vox. November 29, 2022. Accessed September 27, 2023. https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/12/2/20976180/climate-change-best-charities-effective-philanthropy

10. Margaret Klein Salamon. “Coco Gauff Won. So Did Climate-Change Protestors.” The Chronicle of Philanthropy. September 12, 2023. Accessed September 27, 2023. https://www.philanthropy.com/article/coco-gauff-won-so-did-climate-change-protestors
11. Aina Khan. “‘We’re going to be unpopular’: Do sports protests help or harm activism?” Aljazeera. September 17, 2023. Accessed September 27, 2023. https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2023/9/17/sport-climate-crisis-activism-protest-help-or-harm
12. LinkedIn – James Ozden. Accessed September 27, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-ozden-2b2aa8200/details/experience/
13. Extinction Rebellion website. Accessed September 27, 2023. https://rebellion.global/
14. LinkedIn – James Ozden. Accessed September 27, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-ozden-2b2aa8200/details/experience/
15. “About Me.” James Ozden. Accessed September 27, 2023. https://jamesozden.com/
16. Effective Altruism website. Accessed September 27, 2023. https://www.effectivealtruism.org/
17. Mabli Jones. “Introducing our new Director (and a chance to shape our research priorities.)” Social Change Lab. September 21, 2023. Accessed September 27, 2023. https://www.socialchangelab.org/post/introducing-our-new-director-and-a-chance-to-shape-our-research-priorities