The strongest work I have done fostering listening in challenging situations has been done using different story mechanisms.
The best times are when people are invited in to situations where they are made to feel welcome, where they know/meet who else is in the room, where they know their contribution/story will be highly valued, where there is enough time to tell their story and where there is a method in place that enables the story teller/s to feel that their story has been heard.
In the two days we spent together as a result of Emily’s warm and personal invitation I heard a lot of talk about story as well. The difficulties of countering the core dominant narratives which justify inequality. The ones that are so strongly embedded in dominant culture that even the most informed sometimes slip into believing them. Narratives that have an agency and power that can topple new narratives that people are struggling to create, invent, believe in. I heard about the need to change the narrative, the script, whether it be an individual (the lone warrior) or cultural one.
I heard that people are overwhelmed and reluctant to be ‘on the hook’ because the systemic changes necessary are too overwhelming and impossibly large.
I heard that it is easier for people to participate in change if they can be part of solution focused strategies to which they are able to make small, concrete, achievable contributions.
I heard that privilege is a spectrum and that wherever you sit on it there is always insecurity and that people are not aware of their privilege.
I heard that people don't have to be convinced that inequality is a problem. The problem is understanding why it exists and how to change it.
I heard that relationship is critical.
I heard that sometimes a single gesture, if it is powerful enough, can make a huge difference.
I heard that people need more skills to understand/analyse the causes of inequality.
I heard that people need to be able to have hope.
And I heard specific stories of hope from Manutuke, India, Christchurch, Australia, the USA, Barbarians at Vogelmorn, the Highlander Centre.
We also created a story as a group in those two days we spent together. Despite all the good will and intentions in the room I think we left each other with a divided feeling. Perhaps not quite what any of us had had in mind. The one thing that I think links and perhaps unifies the two groups that Emily brought together was and is our diverse relationships to and knowledge/s of the way new narratives may come into being and power.
In writing this response I came across an article by Ella Saltmarshe called Using Stories to Change Systems which I found inspiring and wanted to share with everyone. I think it references many of the things people were saying in many different ways throughout the two days.
https://ssir.org/articles/entry/using_story_to_change_systems#
She describes her article ‘is a field guide to three qualities of story and narrative that all sectors can use to change systems: story as light, as glue, and as web’
STORY AS LIGHT
· Highlights the fault lines in a system and makes visceral cases for change.
· Illuminates outliers and builds a cohering narrative around their work.
· Shines a light on visions of the future that change the way people act in the present.
STORY AS GLUE
Story is also a tool for building community through empathy and coherence. It enables people to connect across difference and to generate narratives that hold together groups, organizations, and movements.
STORY AS WEB
· uses story to reauthor the web of narratives we live in. Specifically, we can use it to:
· Change the personal narratives we have about our lives.
· Change the cultural narratives that frame the issues we advocate for.
· Change the mythic narratives that influence our worldview.