Why progressive movements need to focus on narrative shift
Disclaimer: this text is written by a hypocrite.
This article’s main idea came from a moment of self-analysis that led to big, massive frustration. I sell my services as a hope-based communications writer, which means creating narratives that focus on promoting the world we want to live in. A just society, where human rights are respected, where every living being is taken care of. At its core, hope-based communications is about actively proposing solutions, instead of always reacting to what is coming out of fascists’ mouths. It’s about not only using data to discuss policies that affect people’s everyday life but focusing on telling stories. Humanizing minorities by echoing their voices, and not turning migrants, refugees, trans people into numbers.
Activists, people involved in progressive movements, and human rights defenders often wonder why the heck we are not being heard. Why are we not leading crowds? Well, in a lot of moments we are. Movements like Black Lives Matter and Climate Justice are examples. But mostly, we see some push back from people when human rights are discussed. It’s not that people don’t agree with us: everyone wants to live in a safe world, where every person has access to education, public health, dignified jobs, and housing. The thing is that they don’t believe it’s possible. And neither do we. I started to re-read some materials I wrote lately, and I didn’t see the world I wanted. I didn’t see stories instead of data. In my personal life, I talked about the last horrendous things Bolsonaro or Trump have said. I set my mind on scarcity mode, instead of abundance. I saw the flaws in people and not the potentials. As a true hypocrite, I was mimicking the mainstream narrative of scarcity leading to division, leading to the distraction of what truly matters: using stories to depict a better world.
We need to truly believe change is possible and talk about it. We need to tell tales of possible thriving futures. Change systems inside while enabling systematic changes for the outside. Micro is macro as one feeds upon the other. And it’s ok if we need help. Lately, there are research experiments testing alternative narratives that might help us not give in to today’s default mode of scarcity and division. The Race-Class Narrative is a good example of a methodology created to talk “persuasively about race and economic fairness”. It’s the result of a year-long research project conducted by Anat Shenker-Osorio of ASO Communications, Ian Haney-Lopez, two polling firms (Brilliant Corners and Lake Research), and Demos Action. It is centered in the United States social and economic context, however, I believe its foundations can be applied to other realities. It’s a tool that helps us address the cycle of economic pain fueling racial resentment, a way to respond to the villainization of ethnic minorities, migrants, and refugees. The Race- Class Narrative is a step-by-step approach for communicating values of inclusion.
1. Start your message recognizing race as a factor, yet including everyone.
2. Point out racial scapegoating as a strategy that economically harms all of us.
3. Highlight the importance of unity to solve economic and social issues.
4. Mention previous successful cases of cross-racial solidarity in fighting social injustice.
5. End your message with a positive statement, connecting a sense of togetherness with governance that rules for the people.
I believe this is a brilliant scheme that can be applied to how we talk about human rights in general. Recognize the problem, talk about the causes of this issue, mention similar problems that have been tackled in the past through unity, and propose a solution. And always, always, highlight the importance of togetherness. When talking about migration, for instance, it’s important to mention that the reasons that lead to local communities’ resistance to migrants mostly come from economic issues that actually have nothing to do with migration. You can recognize in your message that change is strange and that it’s normal to feel scared when things move fast. Economic stability is hitting families everywhere, no matter where they are from and what’s the color of their skin. Name the various reasons this is a moment of economic challenges for working families. Talk about your community’s past success stories mobilizing for minorities’ well being. End by expressing how only united we can tackle the economic unstable times we are all going through and suggesting possible answers for people’s concerns. It’s challenging to address the complexity of interconnected economic and social issues in a simple way, while proposing answers. But we need to take ownership of our own narrative so people can start imagining new possible models to live and thrive together — and this is a challenge. A challenge worth taking — and putting into practice.
