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Social Change Lab

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Social Change Lab
Founded2021
London, UK
TypeNon-profit research organisation
FocusResearch into activist strategies.
Location
Region served
UK
Key people
Sam Nadel, Director
Websitewww.socialchangelab.org

Social Change Lab is a non-profit research organisation based in the United Kingdom, founded in 2021.[1] It conducts empirical research on the effectiveness of protest movements and social change campaigns, with a focus on the impact of activism and protest on public opinion and policy change.[2]

History

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Social Change Lab was founded in 2021 by James Özden, a climate and animal rights activist.[3]Özden has said he was motivated to found the organisation by his experience with Extinction Rebellion, where he felt there was insufficient evidence on which activist strategies were effective.

Its early research focused primarily on climate and animal advocacy movements. From 2025 onwards, the organisation expanded its work to include research on artificial intelligence safety and governance alongside its existing research on protest movements and social change campaigns.

Özden stepped down as director in 2023 and was succeeded by Mabli Jones. Sam Nadel joined the organisation as interim director in 2024 and was subsequently appointed permanent director.[1]

Social Change Lab has received funding from a range of philanthropic foundations and grant-making organisations. Funders include the John Ellerman Foundation ,[4] Climate Emergency Fund[5] and Changing Ideas.[6] Publicly reported grants include three awards totalling £79,500 from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust and the Brian Mercer Trust[7] between January 2025 and March 2026.

Research

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Social Change Lab conducts empirical research that examines the effectiveness of protest strategies within social movements.[8] To date, its research has focused on climate change, animal advocacy and AI governance.[9]

In 2022, Social Change Lab conducted research into public attitudes towards Just Stop Oil's programme of disruptive climate protests in the United Kingdom.[10] The research concluded that Just Stop Oil's protests did not reduce public support for climate action and identified a 'positive radical flank effect' whereby the action increased support for more moderate environmental organisations.[11][12]

Social Change Lab has published research on public attitudes toward animal rights issues, including factory farming, animal testing and disruptive protest tactics. The organisation's work has been discussed in academic literature, including a 2025 study published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications.[13]

Reception

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Social Change Lab's research on Just Stop Oil received coverage in The Guardian,[14] BBC news,[15] Deutsche Welle[16] and Al Jazeera.[17] The organisation's research has also received attention in the scientific press, with its findings on the effects of disruptive climate protest featured by Nature[18] and has been published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Sustainability.[19] Social Change Lab's research on disruptive animal rights protest was featured by The Ecologist, which reported on the organisation's findings on the effects of Animal Rising's 2023 Grand National protest.[20]

In 2025, Social Change Lab was profiled by InfluenceWatch, which describes it as a left-leaning research organisation focused on protest movements.[21]

Publications

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Selected publications include:

  • Protest Movements: How Effective Are They? (2022)[22]
  • Making a Scene and Making Sense (2025)[23]
  • AI is on the March. Is the AI Safety Movement Ready? (2025)[24]
  • The short and long-term effects of disruptive animal rights protest (Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 2025)[13]
  • The role of disruptive protests in the animal advocacy movement (chapter in Animal and Vegan Advocacy, Routledge, 2026)[25]

References

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  1. 1 2 "SOCIAL CHANGE LAB LTD overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  2. ↑ "Social Change Lab". Commons Library. Retrieved 2026-08-01.
  3. ↑ "About me - James Özden". 2021-10-22. Retrieved 2026-08-04.
  4. ↑ "John Ellerman Foundation". ellerman.org.uk. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  5. ↑ "Movement Infrastructure". Climate Emergency Fund. Retrieved 2026-08-04.
  6. ↑ "Our Impact". Changing Ideas. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  7. ↑ "360Giving GrantNav". grantnav.threesixtygiving.org. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  8. ↑ "Social Change Lab — Researching social movements to understand their impact". www.socialchangelab.org. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  9. ↑ "Social Change Lab". www.givingwhatwecan.org. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  10. ↑ "The Radical Flank Effect of Just Stop Oil - Social Change Lab December 2022.pdf". Google Docs. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  11. ↑ Lu, Donna (2022-11-12). "Throwing soup at the problem: are radical climate protests helping or hurting the cause?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  12. ↑ Adam, Karla (2023-07-15). "Climate activists disrupted Wimbledon, exposed split in movement". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2026-08-01.
  13. 1 2 Ostarek, Markus; Klein, Lennart; Rogers, Cathy; Ozden, James; Thomas-Walters, Laura (2025-07-16). "Short and long-term effects of disruptive animal rights protest". Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. 12 (1): 1110. doi:10.1057/s41599-025-05365-y. ISSN 2662-9992.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  14. ↑ Taylor, Matthew; Gayle, Damien (2025-04-05). "What next for climate activism now Just Stop Oil is 'hanging up the hi-vis'?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-08-01.
  15. ↑ "Just Stop Oil: Celebrities condemn long sentences". BBC News. 2024-07-23. Retrieved 2026-08-01.
  16. ↑ "Museum climate protests spark debate on activism tactics". dw.com. Retrieved 2026-08-01.
  17. ↑ Khan, Aina. "'We're going to be unpopular': Do sports protests help or harm activism?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2026-08-01.
  18. ↑ Soliman, Alix (2024-10-21). "Do disruptive climate protests work? Real-time survey finally offers answers". Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-024-03431-0.
  19. ↑ Ostarek, Markus; Simpson, Brent; Rogers, Cathy; Ozden, James (December 2024). "Radical climate protests linked to increases in public support for moderate organizations". Nature Sustainability. 7 (12): 1626–1632. doi:10.1038/s41893-024-01444-1. ISSN 2398-9629.
  20. ↑ "The impact of protest". theecologist.org. 2024-03-04. Retrieved 2026-08-04.
  21. ↑ "Social Change Lab". Influence Watch. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  22. ↑ "Protest Movements: How effective are they? — Social Change Lab". site-scl.vercel.app. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  23. ↑ "Making a scene and making sense — Social Change Lab". site-scl.vercel.app. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  24. ↑ "AI is on the March. Is the AI Safety Movement Ready? — Social Change Lab". site-scl.vercel.app. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  25. ↑ "Animal and Vegan Advocacy: The Psychological Science and Practice of Attitude, Behavior, and Social Change". Routledge & CRC Press. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
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