Somebody Should Do Something: Book Presentation and Panel

"Somebody Should Do Something", by Michael Brownstein, Alex Madva, and Daniel Kelly 

What difference can we make? What do science and philosophy say about that, and about how we can be forces for good?

Join us for a discussion on social change and how we can create it. Please register for the event on (opens in a new window)Eventbrite. 

Authors Alex Madva (California Polytechnic University Pomona) and Daniel Kelly (Purdue University) will present their book "Somebody Should Do Something" and engage in conversation with panellists:

Dr. Camilla Fitzsimons, Maynooth University
Dr. Sinead Kennedy, Maynooth University
Dr. Matthew Cull, Trinity College Dublin
Dr. Anh-Quân Nguyen, School of Philosophy, University College Dublin

Date: 24th March 2026, 2.00 pm - 6.00 pm 

Venue: MOLI - Museum of Literature Ireland, 86 Saint Stephen's Green, Dublin, D02 XY43

Refreshments will be provided. 

About 'Somebody Should Do Something':

A novel and scientific approach to creating transformative social change-and the surprising ways that each of us can help make a real difference. Changing the world is difficult. One reason is that the most important problems, like climate change, racism, and poverty, are structural. They emerge from our collective practices: laws, economies, history, culture, norms, and built environments. The dilemma is that there is no way to make structural change without individual people making different-more structure-facing-decisions. 

In Somebody Should Do Something, Michael Brownstein, Alex Madva, and Daniel Kelly show us how we can connect our personal choices to structural change and why individual choices matter, though not in the way people usually think. The authors paint a new picture of how social change happens, arguing that our most powerful personal choices are those that springboard us into working together with others. Taking inspiration from the writer Bill McKibben, they stress how one "important thing an individual can do is be somewhat less of an individual." 

Organised into three main sections, the book first diagnoses the problem of "either/or" thinking about social change, which stems from the false choice of making better personal choices or changing the system. Then it offers a different way to think about social change, anchored in a new picture of human nature emerging across the social sciences. 

Finally, the authors explore ways of putting this picture into practice. Neither a how-to manual nor an activist's guide, Somebody Should Do Something pairs stories and science (plus some jokes) to help readers recognize their own power, turning resignation about climate change and racial injustice into actions that transform the world.