Narrative Analysis of Power
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| A narrative analysis of power encourages us to ask, which stories define cultural norms? Where did these stories come from? Whose stories were ignored or erased to create these norms? |
The Power of Stories
As the 21st century begins to unfold, humanity faces a unique and complex crisis. Centuries of colonialism, genocide, unchecked industrialization, plunder of the natural world, and the unexamined story of “progress,” have pushed the planet’s life support systems to the brink of collapse. It was out of our awareness of this profound historical juncture that we founded the smartMeme Strategy and Training Project in 2002. Our collective (comprised of an educator, ecologist, filmmaker, advertiser and organizer) gathered to explore how we could get to the roots of these interlocking problems and support efforts for fundamental change. We started by examining the task of systemic change through the looking glass of stories.
SmartMeme’s work is grounded in a narrative analysis of power -- a recognition that humans use stories to understand the world and our place in it. Stories are embedded with power -- the power to explain and justify the status quo as well as the power to make change imaginable and urgent.
A narrative analysis of power encourages us to ask, which stories define cultural norms? Where did these stories come from? Whose stories were ignored or erased to create these norms? And, most urgently, what new stories can we tell to help create the world we desire?
The Era of Outdated Stories
As they say, “history is written by the winners.” Over time, a story (often one that was imposed through brute force) becomes conventional wisdom, and embeds itself into institutions and ways of life. This means that underlying our mounting global crisis are the stories of the past: rationalizing, justifying, normalizing. Columbus “discovered” America. The United States is a color-blind society. Expansion is our Manifest Destiny. We can have unlimited economic growth in a finite world. Better living through chemistry!In other words, we live in the Era of Outdated Stories – a time when the dominant institutions are still shaped by stories that no longer hold true…stories that our collective imagination have outgrown. Many of these outdated stories are rooted in the history of patriarchy, racism, conquest and greed that have become hardwired into the status quo.
Both individually and as a society, we can benefit from examining which stories are outdated for us, and how they may be hindering our efforts in the present.
As more and more people recognize how Outdated Stories have been used to divide us from one another and the natural world, there is more room in the collective imagination for new stories and alternatives. Already across the planet people from all walks of life are taking action to challenge systems of domination and control. These interventions occur at many places – from the point of destruction where resource extraction is devastating intact ecosystems, indigenous lands and local communities, to the point of production where workers are organizing in the workplaces, sweatshops and farm lands of the world. Consumer boycotts and markets campaigns spring up at the point of consumption, where products made from exploitive processes are sold. Communities of all types take action at the point of decision, confronting decision-makers who have the power to address their needs.
Targeting the Point of Assumption
Actions at all of these physical points of intervention (and many more) are essential and often effective. However, beyond the physical connections and institutions of power, business as usual also relies on the dominant stories that normalize and justify the status quo. These are the stories that buttress the current global system with denials, excuses and claims that there is no alternative. To challenge and transform these stories our efforts must ripple beyond the physical points of intervention to impact the point of assumption: the underlying parts of a story that you have to accept in order to believe the larger narrative.Shared assumptions are the glue that holds a story together, but they are also the vulnerable parts of a narrative. When we spotlight these assumptions and call them into question, we can challenge and transform them -- whether it’s by re-framing issues, amplifying previously unheard voices, or offering new solutions. Actions at the point of assumption can change the story.