Hi everyone,
Hope you’re finding space for love and care 🙏
This week it’s just shares (and a reminder about our survey), we’ll be in touch soon about our next public session.
We’re noticing a greater strategic orientation towards fostering deeper narratives of interconnection, and the fundamental role of community organising practices in doing so – the shares below reflect this.
If this is your first time thinking about narrative change, welcome! You might like this handy resource from The Commons Social Change Library.
Shared in solidarity
Survey
We know surveys aren’t the most fun thing in the world, but it would be SO helpful if you could take 5-10 minutes to fill this one in today.
The insight gathered will enable us to serve you and your work in the best possible ways.
Thank you so much – and thanks to all those who’ve already responded! 🙏
Shares
Key: 📝 Article | 🎙️ Podcast
The Rise Of End Times Fascism
Naomi Klein, Astra Taylor; The Guardian
A clear-eyed systematic analysis of "rightwing leaders and their rich allies" who have "bought into various apartheid fantasies of bunkered safety" and are "choosing to let the Earth burn" with a “darkly festive fatalism”. Two recommendations for moving forward: 1. "Understand this simple fact: we are up against an ideology that has given up not only on the premise and promise of liberal democracy but on the liveability of our shared world – on its beauty, on its people, on our children, on other species.” And 2. "Counter their apocalyptic narratives with a far better story about how to survive the hard times ahead without leaving anyone behind. A story capable of draining end times fascism of its gothic power and galvanising a movement ready to put it all on the line for our collective survival. A story not of end times, but of better times; not of separation and supremacy, but of interdependence and belonging; not of escaping, but staying put and staying faithful to the troubled earthly reality in which we are enmeshed and bound."
#narrativestrategy #deepnarrative #insight #tactics
From Interconnection to a “Larger Us”: Expanding Circles of Identity, Care, and Solidarity (Part 1)
Mónica Roa; Puentes, Horizons Project
“Interconnection is a narrative antidote to authoritarianism,” but we must “embody interconnection in how we see ourselves and organise.” Because “narrative work isn’t just about crafting stories to make sense of reality; it’s also about shaping the lived experiences and the sense of possibility we collectively nurture.” So we must “expand the boundaries of our identity beyond organisational logos, single-issue campaigns, and geographical silos that have long structured our social change efforts.” Roa also guards against the trap of ‘us and them’ framing: “every time we frame those who sow fear as a distinct ‘them,’ we inadvertently reproduce the same logic we’re trying to dismantle.” Instead, ‘change the game’ by “inviting people on a collective journey where the goal isn’t to defeat ‘the other,’ but to build a shared future rooted in dignity, interconnectedness, and the common good.”
#narrativestrategy
It All Starts With a Cup of Tea
Matt Golding; Antidote
Getting together to build alternatives is quite overwhelming. “If it feels impossible – on top of paying the bills / feeding the kids / surviving – to build a wind turbine like the folks in Lawrence Weston, or buy your own farm like the community in Fordhall, can you really join in?” Golding offers a way through with three simple, accessible ingredients: “1. A handful of people; 2. A shared frustration; 3. A cup of tea / a pint of beer / some food.” He reminds us that “change inevitably starts small, and personal,” and that “caring beats control: when people come together to take on an issue they care about, they’re more likely to commit with creativity, determination and irrepressible energy than they are when change is forced on them from outside… If energy can be unlocked, and skills pooled, the resulting change can be huge – as the projects we’re sharing show.”
#narrativestrategy #tactics
Subaltern Storytelling
Thomas Coombes; Hope-Based Communication
Reflections on “a field of post-colonial theory that looks at how the most marginalised people are silenced,” noticing that “we in social change also tend to speak for the subaltern: the ‘suffering subject’ of our stories, victim of injustice but lacking agency to confront it without our intervention.” We’re encouraged to “recognise the agency that exists in communities, which states cannot control” and work with “narrative as something we do together, not something we broadcast.” To do this, ask if you’re “open to being changed by the people you speak with? Or are you just looking to ‘get the message out’?” and notice that “narrative is not something we fixed that emerges from one round of research, but a fluid mosaic of conversations and stories that is constantly evolving.” To truly effect decolonisation, “articulate some sense how we will all live in the future we want to see happen,” but remember that “we cannot rely on ‘magic words’ to change the narratives. Instead, we have to be the narrative.”
#narrativestrategy #framing
The Myths of Philanthropy: What If We Change the Narratives That Govern the Philanthropic Sector?
Mandy Van Deven; The Center for Effective Philanthropy
“Many of the norms by which philanthropy operates perpetuate the very narratives our sector seeks to change. If funders aim to be adequate partners in large-scale systems transformation, it is imperative that we unravel the myths that dictate how our sector operates and, as we’ve seen, limit what is possible to achieve”. This piece is the introduction to a series of articles from a range of contributors, aimed at offering “new avenues for thinking about the consequential role funders can play as both resource stewards and agents of change,” so that people in the sector can best leverage the power of their position and “put into practice the narratives we need to prefigure the just and joyful world that we long for and deserve.”
#narrativestrategy
Carbon Is Not Our Enemy
Paul Hawken, Rachel Donald, Mike Digirolamo; Planet: Critical, Mongabay
“Carbon – the fourth most abundant element in the universe, and a fundamental building block of life – is being maligned in a way that distracts from the root causes of ecological destruction in favour of technological solutions that are not viable at scale, or international agreements that prioritise carbon accounting.” So says Paul Hawken in his new book. He also says that “community is the source of change, and what we have are obviously systems that are destroying community everywhere,” so “we have to be able to develop language about where we are, what’s happening, and where we wish to go… commensurate with that innate desire for us to connect, be families, love our children, be in wonder and awe, and be secure.” This means “we have to create a climate movement that is actually the human movement. And the human movement is humans that are not separate and distinct from nature… can we enter a different narrative for us, all of us, that actually allows us to listen, to connect, as opposed to know?”
#narrativestrategy #framing
🎙️ Listen here
Lost Words
Mike Small
The words banned by the Trump regime offer a “glossary for resistance and rebuilding the world they are destroying”. They expose how “MAGA loves simplicity and hates complexity: the government is reduced to the dictats of one man, America is reduced to a single cultural identity, the role of women is reduced to a single purpose (reproduction), and the economic system is reduced to a single function (production).” Small suggests that the “antidote to this hellscape” is “the defence of language, minority language, and gorging ourselves on the complexity and nuance of life and the natural world… If the MAGA phenomenon is a belief system it is untouchable by rational discourse. But you can create and conjure an alternate from their blueprint. We do not need to be the victim” (a banned word).
#narrativestrategy #language
How Our Inner Narratives Shape Our Actions, Our Relationships and Our Culture
Chusana Praserktul; The Soulful Systems.
“Narcissism, in its many forms, may indeed be at the root of our collective struggles — polarisation, isolation, cruelty, even injustice. And narcissism isn’t just ‘out there’, residing in easily identifiable villains. It’s also subtle and pervasive, lurking within each of us, waiting for the right circumstances to take hold.” To counter it, ”we must intentionally practice humility,” which “doesn’t come naturally to everyone, especially for those raised in environments where projecting confidence, even when unfounded, was a form of self-protection,” so it won’t be easy. We must also “sharpen our ability to “think critically and hold strong to a moral compass,” because ”every unchecked thought, every tolerated lie, every polite nod to narcissistic behaviour contributes to the very culture we claim to want to change.”
#tactics
We Can’t Manage Decline and Call It Justice
Kasper Benjamin; The Minority Report
A raw personal reflection from someone confronting their complicity. “We often talk about sustainability as if it’s inherently good. But if we’re not addressing the root causes – the capitalist, extractive systems that birthed the crisis – we’re perpetuating colonialism in greenface. Our strategies become complicit. Our efforts, however well-intentioned, become mechanisms for the system we claim to resist.” For Benjamin, “the idea that we can continue extracting from the Global South under the banner of ‘sustainable development’ is not just misleading. It’s violent… We should be investing in movements, not just in metrics. In coalitions and cooperatives, not only in startups and scorecards. In relationships of care, community-based governance, and decolonial reparations – not just quarterly impact reports.” So he commits to “centering root-cause analysis in my work. To challenging techno-fixes and symbolic impact. To uplifting Indigenous, Black, and land-based justice movements. To practicing solidarity over scalability… because if our work isn’t dismantling the systems killing the planet, it isn’t work worth doing.”
#deepnarrative
Events, Courses & Jobs
Key: 💼 Job | 🎓 Course | 🗓️ Event
Chief Of Staff
Narrative Initiative
Review begins Apr 28th | Full-time | Remote, US
“Narrative Initiative’s inaugural Chief of Staff (COS) will be responsible for leading the organisation’s staff team for strategic performance. The COS will manage programmatic workflows to ensure alignment with mission, provide guidance to managers, and track key outcomes and deliverables. The Chief of Staff will lead on internal management of the organisation, in consultation with the Executive Director. Externally, the COS will represent the organisation to solidify Narrative Initiative’s presence and purpose. This position reports directly to the Executive Director.”
Depth Education Series
University of Victoria, Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures
Deadlines: May 1st; Jun 7th; Jun 13th | Online Asynchronous
“The Depth Education series invites participants on a learning journey about cultivating relational intelligence, accountability, and co-stewardship, using the SMDR (sobriety, maturity, discernment, and responsibility) compass in different contexts of engagement with the global meta and poly-crisis. In a time of accelerating technological, ecological, and social complexity, cultivating relational intelligence and accountability is crucial. This suite of Depth Education courses invites participants to move beyond extractive and transactional paradigms, engaging both humans and Artificial (AI) or Emergent Intelligences (EI) as relational partners through ethical, creative, and co-stewardship-based approaches.” Three of their ‘Facing Human Wrongs’ courses are open for new cohorts:
🎓 Climate Complexity and Relational Accountability
Climate Change & the Imagination
Centre for Climate Psychology
May 13, 18:00-19:30 BST | Online
Dialogue between: Dr Rowan Williams, Alice Oswald, Dr Valentin Gerlier, hosted by Alan Boldon, exploring “how climate change features in the imagination and how we might imagine ways to address contemporary ecological and social challenges. We will ask a number of questions: Is the climate crisis also an aesthetic crisis? Are we suffering from a scourge of literalism and technocratic idolatry? How might poetry, the imagination and myths help us make sense of our contemporary situation and challenges? Please join us for this online conversation about the nature of the imagination and how we might engage imaginatively with the climate crisis.” Part of a series.
What Narratives Are Needed in These Turbulent Times
Marshall Ganz, UAL, Act Build Change; Kairos
May 16th, 14:00-17:00 BST | London
“At a time when democracies face unprecedented challenges and far-right sentiments are on the rise, Harvard Professor Marshall Ganz offers a powerful framework for democratic renewal. Drawing on decades of organising experience, Marshall's groundbreaking approach to public narrative – connecting personal stories of self, us, and now – can help us overcome fear, reclaim our agency, and strengthen our communities. At this special participatory event, aimed at activists, organisers and communicators, Marshall will work with us to develop the narratives needed to counter the far right and navigate these turbulent times.”
Ecology & the Imagination
Centre for Climate Psychology
Jun 1st - Jul 15th, 5 weekly sessions | Online
“In this short intensive course we will study myth, story, poetry, image-making and philosophy as an interconnected whole that can nourish, ground and power our imaginations to become a force for goodness, justice, truth and beauty in the world… The imagination is not an evasion from reality but a more primordial mode of human creativity whose ultimate reach is the infinite mystery of being. It is the great stream of creativity. It precedes us and even precedes the dreamworld of our ancestors. It is the continuum to which we all belong. This course is grounded in the cultivation of this vital connection. If this connection is lost, life is lost.”
Content Rising 2025
Content Rising, Various Speakers
Jun 12, 09:00-18:00 BST | Millenium Seed Bank, Wakehurst
“Content Rising is brought to you by a dedicated band of storytellers and environmental communicators, all united and working hard to craft a future fair for all. We have reached out across our global network, to bring together those who are working hard to articulate why we need active hope to protect and restore our planet. We're inviting trailblazers, changemakers and activists to offer hope, encouragement and inspiration for all who join us… We'll hear from some of the planet's most inspiring content creators at a storytelling festival of shared experience and new ideas. Let's see what we can grow together.”
Quotes
(This selection of quotes is intended as a resource, in the hope that they may be useful for your own communications. See a full list of all the previous quotes.)
“The governing ideology of the far right in our age of escalating disasters has become a monstrous, supremacist survivalism.” – Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor
"It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognise, accept, and celebrate those differences." – Audre Lorde
“It is the heart of US policy, Ladies and Gentlemen, to use fascism to preserve capitalism while claiming to defend democracy from communism.” – Michael Parenti
"The death of human empathy is one of the earliest and most telling signs of a culture about to fall into barbarism". – Hannah Arendt
“Our bodily defence cannot rely on non-violence alone, because non-violence asks for the world to change, while our bodies exist in the world as it is.” – Rachel Donald
Thanks for joining us, see you here again in three weeks.
A reminder that if you have something that you’d love to see in these newsletters, or work you’d like to share in the community sessions, or if you have any feedback, please reach out at inter-narratives@greenfunders.org
Very best,
Paddy & Ella