It’s time for a new story of society
Our daily lives are dominated by consumerism. Every day we encounter around 3000 messages which embed a narrative of humans as consumers. The message we see, the language we use and the stories we tell play a significant role in shaping our views of the world. It’s time to rethink the dominant story of society and redefine what it means to be human.
I’ve recently finished reading ‘Citizens: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us’ by Jon Alexander and Ariane Conrad. This book presents a compelling argument for how the dominant story of society is leading us down the wrong path. We are becoming more and more individualistic and driven by passive consumption.
The consumer story is leading to poorer health, reduced well-being, and increased loneliness. The emphasis on individualism and passive consumption contributes to disengagement, polarisation, and a sense of powerlessness. To fix our societal problems requires a shift towards a new narrative — from consumer to citizen.
These deep narratives play a crucial role in forming our individual and cultural identities. They shape our values, traditions and worldviews and provide us with shared beliefs to unite around. This strengthens our social bonds and builds a sense of belonging. But these dominant narratives also compromise what we view or ‘normal’, ‘natural’ or ‘common-sense’. They can blind us to the alternatives.
From passive consumers to active citizens
Jon Alexander and Ariane Conrad offer an alternative narrative for society — the Citizen Story. This path forward encourages active participation, collaboration, and shared responsibility for the decisions we make as a society. This shifts the way we live our lives from passive consumers to empowered citizens and ultimately builds a shared purpose for us to unite around. This shared purpose and collective action are crucial to address the systemic societal issues we face.
The Citizen Story provides a framework for addressing pressing issues like economic and health inequality, obesity, climate change, and social polarisation. It requires dismantling existing structures that perpetuate passivity and consumerism and empowering citizens by decentralising decision-making, building trust and collaboration, and fostering civic participation.
‘Citizens’ is a call to action. The authors advocate for a bottom-up approach, where people actively participate in shaping their neighbourhoods. People should feel a sense of shared ownership and responsibility over their communities. From this perspective, we need more grassroots initiatives which are heavily located in local places and spaces. We need to move from me to we, and from done to, to done by.
The headlines of our time are all about decline, decay, catastrophe, tragedy. And they are all true. But there is another truth. Dig a little, get beneath the surface, and we find people like these (citizens) across the world, in every neighbourhood and every sector of society. — Jon Alexander and Ariane Conrad
One of my favourite concepts from the book it the idea of ‘social acupuncture’, where energy for a new way of doing things is located and released. There are pockets of a radically different future spread throughout the country and these intervention points need to be allowed to flourish. From this perspective, the Citizen Story starts with small actions within communities and can scale up to influence institutions and policies. This calls for a new prototype mentality to societal issues, where we start small, test, learn and develop.
When we open our eyes to the number of citizens who are working to reimagine and rebuild the world, we start to see what’s possible, and who we are capable of being. — Jon Alexander and Ariane Conrad
How organisations can become more Citizen driven
Beyond individual action, Jon and Ariane identify ways for organisations to transition from being consumer-driven to citizen-driven.
1. Tell stories — Organisations can invite citizens to share their personal narratives and experiences. This goes beyond traditional feedback mechanisms and allows people to fosters a deeper connection between the organisation and those who engage with it’s products and services. By amplifying diverse voices and stories, organisations gain valuable insights into the lived experiences of citizens, informing decision-making processes and building a more inclusive offer.
2. Gather data — Organisations can invite people to actively contribute data and insight. In return, this data and insight can be used to make more informed and contextually relevant decisions. Data can become a shared resource which is co-created by both the organisation and the community.
3. Share connections — Facilitating connections between citizens and the organisation is a powerful way to build a sense of community. This involves creating platforms or spaces where individuals can network and collaborate. This can help organisations and communities work together towards common goals.
4. Contribute ideas — People who use products and services can be empowered to contribute ideas to develop them. This unlocks a more inclusive way to solve problems and innovate. This not only taps into the collective intelligence of the community but also demonstrates that the organisation values and respects the perspectives of the community.
5. Give time — Organisations can invite citizens to contribute their time and skills towards their shared goals. This could involve volunteering for community projects, participating in decision-making processes, or contributing to specific initiatives. This will help to strengthen the bond between the organisation and community and further build a sense of shared responsibility.
6. Learn skills — Organisations can facilitate opportunities for citizens to acquire new skills and knowledge. This could involve organising workshops, training sessions, or educational programmes which are tailored to the needs and interests of the community. This will help to build reciprocity between the organisation and community.
7. Crowdfund — Crowdfunding provides a way for citizens to contribute financially to projects and initiatives that align with their values. This not only diversifies funding sources but also gives citizens a direct say in the projects they believe will benefit the community.
The take home message
The prevailing narrative in our daily lives is centred around individualism and consumerism. Every day we see and hear around 3000 consumer-related messages. To address the systemic issues we face as a society — such as health and economic inequality, climate change, and social polarisation — we need a new story.
If stories are powerful, and they are; if stories shape societies, and they do, then we need to choose our stories with care. We need stories of hope, kindness and community, old and new, that challenge false and toxic stories. — Jan Fortune
People are ready to become active participants to shape their communities. Stories are fundamental to change and we can create a different story. What would society look like if each day we encountered 3000 messages of trust, collaboration, civic participation, and decentralising decision-making?
Sources:
1. Alexander, J., Conrad, A., & Eno, B. (2022). Citizens: Why the key to fixing everything is all of us. Canbury Press.
2. Smart Jeffery. (2023). The Power Of Storytelling: How Narratives Shape Our Perception Of The World. Available at: https://medium.com/illumination/the-power-of-storytelling-how-narratives-shape-our-perception-of-the-world-302af206ceb0
3. Jan Fortune. (2018). 10 powerful reasons why change begins with the magic of story. Available at: https://janfortune.medium.com/10-powerful-reasons-why-change-begins-with-the-magic-of-story-2a5bc25b8aff
4. The Opportunity Agenda. (2022). Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeseq/2022/07/27/we-all-have-a-role-in-changing-dominant-narratives-to-those-of-racial-justice/
5. Narrative Initiative. (2019). Available at: https://narrativeinitiative.org/blog/narrative-change-a-working-definition-and-related-terms/#:~:text=Deep%20Narrative,-Deep%20narratives%20are&text=They%20undergird%20collections%20of%20narratives,sense%E2%80%9D%20or%20%E2%80%9Cnatural.%E2%80%9D
