Constructive Storytelling as a Means of Creating Change - Essay Example

 Constructive Storytelling as a Means of Creating Change Personal Statement The following research proposal will examine the nature of the narrative in relationship to peace and conflict dynamics as it results in meaningful change within a society or between social groups. As war has been a part of the world in some region for most of history, the stories that frame the experience and guided cultures towards violence present an opportunity to examine how narrative can be used to create peace when conflict erupts between nations. As I evaluate the various events of history where narrative has had a specific and meaningful impact, I hope to find a way in which to create peace and the end to aggressive measures towards resolutions so that the utopian concept of world peace can be settled into reality. Peace Conflict and the Narrative: Constructive Storytelling as a Means of Creating Change We need an essentially new way of thinking if mankind is to survive. Men must radically change their attitudes toward each other and their views of the future. Force must no longer be an instrument of politics…Today, we do not have much time left; it is up to our generation to succeed in thinking differently. If we fail, the days of civilized humanity are numbered. ~Albert Einstein (Barash and Webel 3) Introduction The following research proposal is intended to suggest a study that would use historic case studies as a means of determining the role of narrative in conflicts, resolutions, and war as they pertain to an approach towards peace. Using the phenomenological approach to inquiry, the case study would be codified through clustering different elements of the cases in order to examine commonalities that emerge among the various themes. The hypotheses are intended to suggest that there is a causal relationship between the narrative and social change as it has occurred throughout history. Theme and Literature Review Peace and resolutions to conflict are dependent upon the nature of the issues in conflict. The importance that is placed on the issues is the key to determining how an approach can be made towards a resolution. Bercovich and Kadyifci write that “the internal characteristics of the actors involved affect the peace building activities significantly” (31). This would indicate that the identity of the nation involved in finding a resolution would be significant in framing the nature of communicating and developing peace where conflicts have emerged. The story or narrative that accompanies that identity forms a structure of culture and thought that provides a framework for approaching peace or making the decision towards war. Senehi writes that there is “significance of both imagination and an analysis of culture for understanding social conflicts and their resolution” (41). How the story of a people has been conceptualized is significant in understanding how the narrative will affect conflict. People define themselves in many respects through an understanding of the cultural story that frames their perspective on the world. The concept of cultural production is influential on social conflicts, whether they are external or internal. They are often based upon inequalities, oppression, and a lack of recognition of the meaning that is applicable to differences. Senehi goes on to write that “we must also see persons as meaning-makers and agents in order to understand how social systems and identities are created, interpreted, accepted, resisted, and changed” (43). The development of the story is part of a system of culture through which decisions are made, thus its power is significant. Senehi goes on to say that “Narratives serve as rationale for action”, suggesting that they get results when used as a persuasive argument towards applying cultural values towards a resolution. An example of this is a vote for a representative in government where the narrative about his or her beliefs provides the reasoning for voting for them. Michel Foucault discussed the nature of power and politics, defining the position of power as preceding that of politics. He suggested that there was a “submission of bodies through the control of ideas” that would frame how outcomes would be experienced. In controlling the story, the control of the event is enacted. The first approach to a social group is to frame a narrative and through the emotions that are created in that narrative, change can be effected. Issue Senehi uses the example of the poet Robert Desnos who was captured by the Germans in World War II as French resistance. She relates a story of an incident where he and a group of other prisoners were taken to a remote location to be massacred. As he realized what was happening, he smiled and quite loudly offered to read the palm of a nearby woman. He read for her a long history, bringing smiles and tears to others on the truck, claiming she would find a wonderful romance, have children, and have a long life. Other prisoners were caught up in the false joy and asked him to read their fortunes. In listening to his stories of the long life that they would have and the wonderful things that were to come, the guards were affected and returned with the prisoners, still alive, to the camp where they had been detained (41). Through changing the narrative for the people in the truck, including the guards, he affected the outcome of the day. Peace and conflict studies as they relate to communication are defined by an interaction of two parties who have come into a disagreement. In resolving conflicts, it is the story of the cultures of those involved, the narrative of the conflict, and the way in which persuasive arguments define a negotiation that will determine peace. In addition, it is the narrative of war that defines its meaning for those involved and will encourage or discourage aggression. In working towards peace, it is possible that it is the power of narratives that come into conflict rather than just the ideologies of social groups. In other words, in changing the narrative, the purpose and position of conflict can be changed. This research proposal evaluates the nature of the narrative and its transformative power in order to examine its power in affecting the nature of conflict. The narrative, or the story, has the capacity to change perspectives and define purpose for those involved in a conflict. It is the intention of the research to determine if changing the narrative would have the power to change the outcomes of conflict and produce peace over war. Hypotheses The following hypotheses will frame this research study in order to define the subject of inquiry. Hypothesis 1: Changing the narrative changes the course of history, thus a change in narrative would create peace where conflict emerges. Alternative Hypothesis 1: Changing the narrative has no affect on the course of history, thus a change in narrative would not create peace where conflict emerges. Hypothesis 2: In cases where the narrative has been changed so that oppressed social groups have been empowered, social change has been the result. Alternative Hypothesis 2: In cases where the narrative has been changed so that oppressed social groups have been empowered, this has not been the catalyst for social change. Hypothesis 3: Because the narrative exists on multiple planes of sociological categories, changing the narrative must include a variety of narratives in order to address an effective number of those categories towards the event of change. Alternative Hypothesis 3: The narrative does not exist on multiple planes of sociological categories thus the narrative is not relevant to the various planes of categories during an event of change. Definitions The following terms have defined in relationship to the research that is intended for this research. Narrative: Baker defines narrative as “public and personal ‘stories’ that we subscribe to and that guide our behavior” (19). Narratives, in the context of identity in relationship to social groups, situations, and experiences, are the stories that are told and invented either internally and externally that explain behaviors and ideas that affect existence within a social group, whether that be a personal identifier, a community identity, or a national identity. Political Power: Political power for the purpose of this study is defined as power that is used to affect the community (Foucault 19). Peace: Barash and Webel define peace first by stating that it is more often recognized by its absence (4). They quote Johan Galtung as saying that there is positive and negative peace. Positive peace “denotes the simultaneous presence of many desirable states of mind and society” (Barash and Webel 4). Negative peace is the absence of war and aggression which frames human conflict (Barash and Webel 4). Peace in the context of this study can refer to either positive or negative peace in an assumption that the absence of violence and aggressive conflict is a state of peace. Conflict: Social positions on issues that may or may not be expressed through aggression between social groups, either defined by external or internal positions to each other. This means they may be positioned with both groups inside of a nation or with opposing nations (Barash and Webel 4-10). Aggression: Expressions of anger which may be verbal or include violence between social groups. War: Dinstein explores Oppenheim’s definition of war and finds that there are four major elements. War is first defined as a contention between two states with the second element being that the use of armed forces is in play. The purpose must be to overpower the opponent and “both parties are expected to have symmetrical, although diametrically opposed, goals” (Dinstein 5). Eagleton states that “One element seems common to all definitions of war. In all definitions, it is clearly affirmed that war is a conflict between states” (580). Research Design The design of this research will be based on qualitative inquiry that will consists of an attempt to understand the meaning of narrative as it relates to change in outcomes where issues have emerged between social groups. While quantitative study has the capacity to study the numbers of changes that have taken place through history and statistical data on the meaning of those changes, the experience of the narrative requires human belief systems to be examined from the perspective of interpretations of human behavior. A qualitative study will help the researcher to understand how narrative is experienced as an altering element of the development of peace or conflict and will serve to help the broader context of academic study through a discovery of the implications of the capacity for narrative to change the course of history. Through the use of the hypotheses that have been presented, case studies will be developed in order to better understand how narrative has worked in history to change the course of events. In looking at the impact of narratives through an historical perspective, the nature of narrative and its affect can be examined. The case studies will be codified for common elements, thus providing for a method of examination so that they can be evaluated for relevance to the hypotheses (George and Bennett 4). Through the phenomenological approach to inquiry, this study will attempt to discover the importance of narrative in relationship to conflict and if a decisive change in the narrative can affect peace. The phenomenological approach includes reviewing the case studies in order to obtain a general feeling about the experiences of those in the study, choosing phrases and sentences that are directly relevant to the experience, clustering them into meaningful themes relevant to the inquiry, and integrating the results into an “exhaustive description of the phenomenon” (Creswell 115). Inquiry that is developed through the phenomenological approach is defined by the experience that is examined in order to explain the phenomenon that is being discussed in the inquiry. Ethical Aspects Because there are no participants in this study, the ethical aspects of the research study are primarily focused on the use of literature. The use of literature in the study must be defined between the thoughts of the researcher and those works that will contribute to the study. Plagiarism is the worst problem in a study such as this and all efforts will be made to appropriately attribute works by another author. In addition, in order to provide the best possible information, the researcher will evaluate the contribution of each author according to their background and validity. Summary This research study will examine the phenomenon of narrative on conflict and peace. Through the development of historic case studies, common elements will emerge that help to find explanations of the phenomenon and support the hypotheses that have been presented. The nature of narrative is that it appears to frame the experience towards an outcome and this study intends to explore the power of narrative in the framework of conflict. The concept of the narrative will be further explored in a literature review that encompasses theory and practical applications in order to support the concept as it is being presented. The results of the study will further the academic knowledge about narrative and its place in communications between nations and amongst people of similar community so that the use of narrative may come to provide the capacity to create peace where conflicts are ideologically built through negative narratives that are counter-productive towards the goal of peace and the end of aggressions between peoples of different backgrounds and opposing states. Works Cited Baker, Mona. Translation and Conflict. New York: Taylor and Francis, Inc. Barash, David P, and Charles Webel. Peace and Conflict Studies. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2008. Print. Bercovich, Jacob and Ayse Kadayifci. Exploring the Relevance and Contribution to Mediation to Peace Building. Peace and Conflict Studies. 9:2, 21-40. PDF. Creswell, John W. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, 2013. Print. Dinstein, Yoram. War, Aggression and Self-Defence. Cambridge [u.a.: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2005. Print. Eagleton, C. An Attempt to Define Aggression. International Conciliation. 264, 579-612. Print. Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Random House, 1977. Print. George, Alexander L, and Andrew Bennett. Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2005. Print. Senehi, Jessica (2002). Constructive Storytelling: A Peace Process. Peace and Conflict Studies. 9:2, 41-65. PDF. Read More