Influence of Narratives of Vision and Identity on Collective Behavior Change

Ilan Chabay, Larissa Koch, Grit Martinez and Geeske Scholz
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Ilan Chabay: Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, 14467 Potsdam, Germany
Larissa Koch: Institute for Environmental Systems Research, University of Osnabrück, 49076 Osnabrück, Germany
Grit Martinez: Ecologic Institute, 10717 Berlin, Germany
Geeske Scholz: Institute for Environmental Systems Research, University of Osnabrück, 49076 Osnabrück, Germany

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 20, 1-15

Abstract: Profound societal transformations are needed to move society from unsustainability to greater sustainability under continually changing social and environmental conditions. A key challenge is to understand the influences on and the dynamics of collective behavior change toward sustainability. In this paper we describe our approach to (1) understanding how affective narrative expressions influence transitions to more sustainable collective behaviors and (2) how that understanding, as well as the potential for using narrative expressions in modeling of social movements, can become a basis for improving community responses to change in a rapidly changing world. Our focus is on narratives that express visions of desirable futures and narratives that reflect individual and social identities, on the cultures and contexts in which they are embedded, exchanged, and modified, and through which they influence the dynamics of social movements toward sustainability. Using an analytical categorization of narrative expressions of case studies in the Caribbean, Micronesia, and Africa, we describe insights derived from the narratives of vision and social identities in diverse communities. Finally, we suggest that narrative expressions may provide a basis for agent-based modeling to expand thinking about potential development pathways of social movements for sustainable futures.

Keywords: affective narrative expressions; narratives of vision and identity; dynamics of social movements; agent-based models; sustainable development goals (UN SDGs); knowledge; learning; and societal change alliance (KLASICA) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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