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The Kindness Revolution by Hugh Mackay: what it argues, and who it is for
After the bushfires and the first year of the pandemic, Australia's best-known social researcher asked whether we could become known as a loving country, rather than just a lucky one. This is his answer, and his challenge.
The Listening ShelfUpdated 3 October 20262 min read
This page once held an earlier review by a different writer. This is a new page: a plain guide to the book, written from the book itself and its publisher's record, not a personal verdict.
The short answer
The Kindness Revolution (Allen & Unwin, May 2021) is Hugh Mackay's argument that the kindness, cooperation and neighbourliness Australians showed during the 2019 to 2020 bushfires and the pandemic could become the basis of a better society, if we keep acting on it. Its key line: revolutions never start at the top. Both Australian library catalogues we check lend the audiobook free.
What it argues
Mackay starts from 2020: the bushfires, then the pandemic, and the questions many people asked themselves in lockdown. What really matters to me? Am I living the life I want? What kind of society do I want? He urges readers not to let those questions go.
His case is that the crisis showed what Australians are capable of: kindness to strangers, sacrifices for the common good, a new appreciation of local neighbourhoods. If we want a country that is kinder, more cooperative, more inclusive and less cynical, he argues, there is only one way to start: each of us must live as if it already is that country. In his words, could we become "renowned as a loving country, rather than simply a 'lucky' one?"
The publisher calls it a distillation of Mackay's life's work, and it draws on decades of interviews with Australians about how they live.
Who wrote it
Hugh Mackay is a social researcher who, as ABC Radio National put it, has spent sixty years travelling the country interviewing Australians. His earlier books include The Good Life, The Art of Belonging and Australia Reimagined, and this one continues their themes of community, trust and belonging.
Who it is for
- Readers who want a hopeful, practical book about community rather than a self-help book about the self.
- Book clubs and school libraries: it raises questions people will have different answers to.
- Anyone who found 2020 changed what they cared about and wants to think it through.
How to hear or borrow it
The audiobook, read by Hugh Mackay with Helena Plazzer, runs about nine and a half hours. City of Sydney Library's Libby catalogue held 57 copies when we checked and Brisbane's 22, so you are unlikely to wait.
Common questions
What is The Kindness Revolution about?
Hugh Mackay's argument that the kindness and cooperation Australians showed during the 2019 to 2020 bushfires and the pandemic could become the basis of a better society, if individuals keep acting on it.
When was The Kindness Revolution published?
By Allen & Unwin in May 2021.
Can I borrow The Kindness Revolution audiobook free?
Very likely. City of Sydney Library and Brisbane City Council Libraries both held it on Libby when we checked; check your own library's app.