RESOURCES
For those curious to learn more about narrative strategy, cultural strategy, and related measurement, we have assembled a list of readings and resources.
We were involved with some of these publications, but definitely not most of them, and we applaud the robust community of practitioners, applied researchers, academics, and funders that are behind these public resources. To help you navigate the abundance of materials, we have divided them into the following categories:
📚 NARRATIVE CHANGE THEORY AND BEST PRACTICES
🔎 ECOSYSTEM AND FIELD LANDSCAPING
⚖️ ISSUE- OR COMMUNITY-FOCUSED NARRATIVE STRATEGY
♻️ Climate and environment
💸 Economic justice
🏳️⚧️ Gender justice
⚕️ Health equity
🦋 Immigration
🏳️🌈 LGBTQ+
✊🏾 Racial justice
Materials that provide a foundational understanding of narrative change strategy, from big-picture theory to applied practices.
Antonucci, B., Curtis, A., Henriquez, G., Prow, A., Rao, P. & Sadler, K. (2021, April 28). The Struggles & Strides of Narrative Change. Medium.
Conklin, L., Aassar, M., & Volmert, A. (2021). How Do Other Fields Think About Narrative? Lessons for Narrative Change Practitioners. Washington, DC: FrameWorks Institute.
Davidson, B. (2022). Narrative Emergency Kit: How should we prepare for the next crisis? IRIS.
Davidson, B. (2016). The role of narrative change in influencing policy. ASK Justice.
Davidson, B. (2022). What Makes Narrative Change So Hard? Stanford Social Innovation Review.
FrameWorks Institute. (2021). The Features of Narratives: A Model of Narrative Form for Social Change Efforts. FrameWorks Institute.
FrameWorks Institute. (2020). Mindset Shifts: What Are They? Why Do They Matter? How Do They Happen? FrameWorks Institute.
Jenkins, A. (2018). Shifting the Narrative: What it Takes to Reframe the Debate for Social Justice in the US. The Othering & Belonging Institute.
Kim, J., Hynes, L., & Shirazi, N. (2017). Toward New Gravity: Charting a Course for the Narrative Initiative. Narrative Initiative.
Manne, L., Cheyfitz, K., de Vries, M., Lowell D., Pariser, E., Potts, E., & Williams Simon, E. (2022). Narrative Strategy: The Basics. Liz Manne Strategy.
Moore, M. & Sen R. (2022). Funding Narrative Change: An Assessment and Framework by the Convergence Partnership. Convergence Partnership.
Potts, E & Van Slyke, T. (2021, April 13). At the Speed of Trust: Five Ways To Strengthen Our Narrative Rapid Response Power. Pop Culture Collaborative.
Robinson, R. (2018). Changing Our Narrative About Narrative: the Infrastructure Required for Building Narrative Power. Institute of Othering & Belonging.
Sachrajda, A., & Coombes, T. (2020). From Megaphone to Mosaic: Five Principles for Narrative Communications. Medium.
Stachowiak, S., Gienapp, A., & Kalra, N. (2020). Not Always Movements: Multiple Approaches to Advance Large-Scale Social Change. ORS Impact.
Taylor, R. (2021). Transforming Narrative Waters: Growing the Practice of Deep Narrative Change in the UK. Ruth Taylor.
An overview of the narrative ecosystem, including the key players and their areas of expertise.
Potts, E., Lowell, D., & Manne, L. (2022). Spotlight on Impact Storytelling: Mapping and recommendations for the narrative and cultural strategies ecosystem. Liz Manne Strategy.
Soriano, J., Phelan, J., Freeman Brown, K., Cortés, H. & Jung, H. C. (2019, July 16). Creating an Ecosystem for Narrative Power. Medium.
Rosenthal, E., Weinstein, D., & Jauriqui, V. (2023). A Strategic Framework to Guide Investments in Narrative Change: Best Practices for Media Contexts and Beyond. USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center.
A closer look at real life examples of narrative change that show us what’s possible and how to do it.
Choi, J.H., Phelan, J. (2022). Losing Forward: Lessons from Organizing for Narrative Change. Nonprofit Quarterly.
Moore, M. (2022). One Justice, Three Narratives. Medium.
The Opportunity Agenda. (2021). Shifting the Narrative: Six Case Studies. The Opportunity Agenda.
Potts, E. & Cheyfitz, K, (2022). The Storytellers’ Guide to Changing Our World 2.0. Culture Surge.
VanDeCarr, P. (2016). Storytelling and Social Change: A guide for activists, organizations and social entrepreneurs. Narrative Arts.
Material focused on narrative change efforts around a specific issue area or particular community.
Good Energy. Weaving In Climate Change: A Cheat Sheet. Good Energy.
Harmony Labs and Earth Alliance. (2023). How to Reach New Climate Audiences: A culture-first approach for the next era of climate storytelling. Narrative Observatory at Harmony Labs.
Miller, T., & Volmert, A. Talking About Poverty: Narratives, Counter-Narratives, and Telling Effective Stories. Washington, DC: FrameWorks Institute.
Policy Link. Housing Justice Narrative Toolkit. Policy Link.
National Domestic Workers Alliance and the TCC Group. Strategic Roadmap | Scaling Economic Mobility Narrative Change. New York City, NY: National Domestic Workers Alliance.
Rosenthal, E. L., Rogers, A.A, Valkenburgh, S. V., Peterson, E., Weinstein, D., & (2021). Poverty Narratives in popular culture. USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center.
Strickland, K & Wong, F. (2021). A New Paradigm for Justice and Democracy: Moving beyond the Twin Failures of Neoliberalism and Racial Liberalism. Roosevelt Institute.
Topos Partnership. (2023). From Scarcity to Abundance in Narrative: Toward a Better Understanding. Big Think Narrative Learning Community.
Conrey, R. & Manne, L. (2020). Story at Scale: Narrative Research to Advance Gender Justice. Women’s Foundation of California.
Harmony Labs. (2022). Audiences for Health Equity Narratives in U.S. Media. Harmony Labs.
Lynn, J., & Kathlene, L. (2020). Narrative Change for Health & Racial Equity: Exploring Capacity & Alignment. Prepared on behalf of The California Endowment. Denver, CO: PolicySolve, LLC. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.29767.93607
Rosenthal, E.L. (2021). Stories Matter: How new entertainment narratives about health can influence mindsets and policy. USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center.
Wainwright, C. (2019). Building Narrative Power for Racial Justice and Health Equity. Open Society Foundations.
Harmony Labs and Story Strategy Group. (2023). Health Equity Narratives: Content Testing & Strategy Validation. Harmony Labs and Story Strategy Group.
Chang, J., Sen, N., Treibitz, J., abdullah, s., & Hammon, K. (2022, March). A Future for All of Us: A Report on Phase 1 of the Butterfly Lab for Immigrant Narrative Strategy + A Narrative Design Toolkit. Race Forward.
Chang, J., Treibitz, J., abdullah, s., Hammon, K., Tolentino, A., & Sen, N. (2023). A Future for All of Us Part 2: Butterfly Lab for Immigrant Narrative Strategy. Race Forward.
Proteus Fund. (2015, June 26). Hearts & Minds: The Story of the Civil Marriage Collaborative. Proteus Fund.
Voortella, G., Voortella, N. (2016). Winning the Freedom to Marry Nationwide: The Inside Story of a Transformative Campaign. Freedom to Marry.
McGill Johnson, A. & Godsil, R. (2018). His Story: Shifting Narratives for Boys and Men of Color. Perception Institute & Executives’ Alliance for Boys and Men of Color.
Smith, T. (2023). There Are New Suns: Building a Transformative Narrative for the Black Reparations Movement. The Reparations Narrative Lab/Liberation Ventures.
Examples of how to approach assessing the impact of narrative change efforts.
Forr, J., Cheyfitz, K., Barton, G., & Zaltman, G. (2020). The Science of Winning with Stories. Olson Zaltman & Kirk Cheyfitz/Political Narrative.
Green, J., & de Vries, M. (2021). Measuring the Impacts of Poverty Narrative Change: A Practitioner Guide to Survey Questions. Liz Manne Strategy.
Green, J., & de Vries, M. (2021). Measuring the Impacts of Poverty Narrative Change: Research Framework & Survey Questions. Liz Manne Strategy.
Harmony Labs. (2021, November 4). Narrative Observatory @ Harmony Labs. Medium.
Kalra, N., Borges Farfan, C., Robles, L., & Stachowiak, S. (2021). Measuring Narrative Change: Understanding Progress and Navigating Complexity. ORS Impact.
Niederdeppe, J., Winett, L. (2022). What Research Tells Us About Effective Advocacy Might Surprise You. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Key material explaining culture change theory and exploring best practices in the fields of cultural organizing and cultural strategy.
2020 Constellations Design Team. (2021). Celestial Navigation: How to fund Culture Change in the US. Report of the Constellations 2020 Convening, Dallas, Texas, January 2020.
Chang, J., Manne, L., & Potts, E. (2018, June 15). A Conversation about Cultural Strategy. Medium.
The Culture Group. (2014). Making Waves: A Guide to Cultural Strategy. Air Traffic Control Fund.
Evans, B. A. (2020). From Stories to Systems: Using a Narrative Systems Approach to Inform Pop Culture Narrative Change Grantmaking. Pop Culture Collaborative.
FrameWorks Institute. (2021). Is Culture Changing in this Time of Social Upheaval? Preliminary Findings from the Culture Change Project. Washington, DC: FrameWorks Institute.
FrameWorks Institute. (2022). How American Culture is Changing How American Culture is Changing: 5 Trends to Watch. FrameWorks Institute.
FrameWorks Institute. (2022). How Is Culture Changing in This Time of Social Upheaval? Findings from the Culture Change Project. FrameWorks Institute.
IllumiNative. (2022). The Time is Now: The Power of Native Representation in Entertainment. IllumiNative.
Manne, L. et al. (2016). #PopJustice: Social Justice and the Promise of Pop Culture Strategies. Liz Manne Strategy.
Rzepka, J. (2021, September 20). If You’re Reading This — And You Don't Have a Cultural Strategy — It Might Be Too Late. Medium.
Sachrajda, A. & Zukowska, M. (2021). New Brave World: The Power, Opportunities, and Potential of Pop Culture for Social Change in the UK. Pop Change.
Sen, N. (2019). Cultural Strategy: An Introduction & Primer. Power California.
Below are examples of narrative and cultural strategy practitioners as well as resources designed for international contexts.
International Resources for Impact Storytelling
Opening Knowledge Across Research & Entertainment
Conditions to Flourish - Understanding the Ecosystem for Narrative Power