[nerva]

Not really what you're looking for but it's what sprung to mind:

George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London. He gives up his bourgeois lifestyle to live among the poor. I'm not sure he started anything at the end though. Besides himself, with a wider perspective of the world.

[ruraljuror]

This is a really interesting book. Made me realize I have never known what it is like to be truly hungry.