Your narrative and culture change roundup! 📢
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A very Happy New Year one and all, and a special welcome to those who have subscribed to In Other Words over the holiday period.
I hope this email finds you well-rested, well-fed, well-loved and ready for the start of yet another year. They just keep coming!
A short In Other Words for you this week, as we ease ourselves back into the world of narrative and culture change. For those who are new round here (or, in fact, those that have been around awhile, but are having trouble remembering life pre-Christmas), if you ever spot anything that you think might have a place in this newsletter, you can let me know here. As much as I try, I can’t possibly read everything (sob!), so I always appreciate a heads up to interesting content that you might stumble across on your escapades around the internet.
Wishing you all a brilliant first fortnight of 2022. In the words of Frank, the best is yet to come,
Ruth x
p.s. This fortnight’s ‘Words to Live By’ is a short quote taken from author, Olga Tokarczuk’s, Nobel Lecture in 2019, which I’d highly recommend reading in full for its beauty and focus on the power of storytelling.
THE LINKS
Articles, reports & podcasts.
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Artwork by Ruchita Bait, as shown on the brilliant Amplifier Art instagram account.
Transforming Narrative Waters: Growing the practice of deep narrative change in the UK Excited (and a little nervous!) to kick off the first In Other Words of 2022 by sharing with you a paper I wrote last year on deep narratives - those foundational narratives that sit beneath so many different social and environmental challenges on which we each work. I was commissioned by the inspirational Cassie Robinson, then at The National Lottery Community Fund, to do some thinking and talking with others on what deep narratives are, how we can shift them and what some of the barriers and opportunities are to doing this more successfully in a UK context. If you have the time, I’d love for you to give the paper a read and then let me know what you think. You can catch me on email or over on Twitter. Does it spark any thoughts for you? Are you working on deep narratives too? I’d love to hear! [Ruth Taylor]
Volts podcast: how the left can suck less at messaging, with Anat Shenker-Osorio David Roberts interviews strategic communications and straight-talking guru, Anat Shenker-Osorio, to find out what makes an effective message. I LOVED this episode - so many meaty debates discussed! I found myself nodding particularly vigorously at David’s comment at around 17 mins, about the lack of attention given to developing progressive deep narratives, which under sit so many different issue areas. A brilliant podcast to listen to to kick off the new year [Volts]
A 2021 narrative reading list to launch your 2022 Just before Christmas, the Narrative Initiative team treated us all to an excellent round up of narrative reading (and watching and listening) from 2021. If, like me, you’re currently emerging from a chocolate-infused holiday stupor and trying to remember what narrative is and why its so important, this would be a great place to start. [Narrative Initiative]
To win, progressives must tell more compelling stories and understand power Harry Quilter-Pinner, Director of research and engagement at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), explores the LGBTI movement and how a focus on storytelling and power-building helped shift public opinion over time. [Open Democracy]
Windrush, music and memories: how songs of resistance and celebration have shaped who I am A wonderfully personal piece on how music can influence our own life stories as well as the cultural narratives around us. [The Conversation]
Project Unsung Project Unsung is a storytelling project facilitated by the UN Refugee Agency. It brought together creative collaborators from across the world to help reimagine the humanitarian sector and promote a new narrative for its work. The collection of thought-provoking essays, poetry and art has been beautifully curated into an anthology, and also includes some excellent exercises to help you bring some of this thinking to life. [UNHCR]
The radical history of scrapbooks - and why activists still use them today I loved this short article on the historical connection between scrapbooking and activism! What would a scrapbook on narrative change look like I wonder? It's got me inspired to get out the pritt-stick... [The Conversation]
UPCOMING EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES
Things for the calendar.Â
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Frank 2022: A Gathering for Social Change Communicators
Hosted by the University of Florida’s Centre for Public Interest Communications each year, Frank is a gathering of people from around the globe who use communications to positively change the world. This year the focus will be on the role of lived experience in driving lasting change, and the event will be hosted both in person and online, so no matter where you are you’ll be able to get involved.
Tuesday 22 Feb - Friday 25 Feb
Tickets are priced from $99+
In person in Gainesville, Florida and accessible via zoom
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Allied Media Conference 2022
This year’s AMC will be held partly online, exploring the emerging futures at the intersection of art, technology, education, media and visionary resistance/organising. For those signed up to this newsletter, the ‘Narrative and Cultural Strategies for Collective Liberation’ track might be of particular interest. Tickets aren’t currently on sale, but you can propose a session.
Thursday 30 June - Sunday 3 July
In person events in Detroit and accessible online
Words to Live By
Clever people saying clever things.
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