Meta-narratives

Counter Narratives
and
Alternative Narratives
What is a Narrative?
• Narratives are a set of ideas, facts, perspectives, and
experiences that inform the way an individual or group
perceives their place in the world around them. They often
blend elements of historical truth with constructed
storylines and can resonate deeply with people’s sense of
self and how they make sense of events in their own lives.
• Narratives can be positive or negative (dissonant) and
function as a natural part of the human experience.
• A narrative says: “This is who we are and what we stand
for.”; ”Ito kami at ang pinanindigan namin.”
• Components: “where from” and “where to”
Samples of a Mindanao Narrative
• “Prior to the coming of the colonizers to Mindanao, the Moro and
Lumad tribes already existed, living in peace and dignity, free and
independent of foreign rule. They have ancestral rights.”
• “The settlers who came from Luzon and Visayas have migrated to
Mindanao pursuant to national laws of the time and have acquired
proprietary rights here. Their descendants now consider Mindanao
as their homeland, not Luzon or Visayas.”

(negative)
• “Mga warfreak and mga Maranao / Tausug.”
• “Mga ignorante ang mga B’laan / Teduray.”
Counter Narratives

•Counter narratives combat and

confront narratives by discrediting,
and deconstructing them.
Samples of a Counter Narrative

“We are all Filipinos and we are all citizens of the Republic of the
Philippines. In Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, there are no settlers /
mainstream majority, lumad, or moro. Only Filipinos.”
“All the lands of the Republic of the Philippines belong to the Republic.
Even those claimed and controlled non-state armed groups. We have
all the right to enter them.”

(negative)
“Hindi warfreak ang mga Maranao. Mga peacelovers sila.”
“Hindi ignorante ang B’laan / Teduray. Hindi lang sila tinatrato na patas
sa nakararaming Pilipino.”
 Alternative Narratives
• Alternative narratives offer positive, inclusive and
constructive ideas based on human rights values such
as openness, respect for difference, freedom and
equality. Alternative narratives strengthen and aim to
reach the whole population, including producers of the
negative narratives themselves who may be able to
become acquainted with a new alternative narrative
altogether. Different types of responses are needed for
different groups.
Samples of an Alternative Narrative

“Deep listening is miraculous for both the listener and speaker. When
someone receives us with open-hearted, non-judgmental, intensely
interested listening, our spirits expand” — Sue Patton Soele

“People of different religions and cultures live side-by-side in almost

every part of the world, and most of us have overlapping identities
which unite us in very different groups.
We can love what we are, without hating what- and who we are not.
We can thrive in our own tradition, even as we learn from others, and
come to respect their teachings” — Kofi Annan
 Counter Narratives &
Alternative Narratives
Counter Narrative Alternative Narrative

How? Directly confronting an oppressive Aiming at creating an alternative vision of

narrative society
What? Undetermined authority and Offer a “what we are for” as a different
myths that oppression relies on perspective to look at the issue from
Where and when? Small scale, shorter period of time Wide project, long-term

Debunking discriminatory myths All Different – All Equal campaign, a

about a certain group in society campaign promoting human rights
through a public information
campaign Reports on inter-faith dialogue youth
For example meetings
Former haters testimonies about
the negative impacts of oppressive Documentaries about the lives of refugees
movements on their lives depicting them as human beings and not as
criminals
Painting a mural celebrating
diversity over racist comments on Series of posters showing how fathers can
walls also enjoy paternity leave and take care of
children a role often taken by mothers)
 Alternative Narratives
• How to make an effective alternative narrative?
• Show a different side or show things in a different light
• Reverse roles and humanize individuals
• Amplify positive, inclusive, and constructive visions and ideas
• Address key attitudes and behaviors you want to influence through examples and
storytelling
• Take advantage of current events. This is your hook
• Focus on target audiences and stakeholders (including those sympathetic to or
already holding extremist views
“There is not one cause of - or cure for - violent extremism. We
have to think of violent extremism in its full context. When you
have corruption in the government, poverty, rapid changes
caused by climate change, the media covering and glorifying
violent extremism and making people famous for doing it, and
when there’s religious extremism as well, all these factors are
the ecology in the petri dish that enable violent extremism to
grow. And you can’t stop there. Different responses to violent
extremism, such as the use of drone bombs, cause a cascade
of other reactions and problems, all of which contribute to
whether the extremism continues, escalates, lessens or ends.”

- Lisa Schirch
Research Director, Toda Institute for Global Peace & Policy Research
Senior Policy Advisor, Alliance for Peacebuilding
Research Professor, Center for Justice & Peacebuilding, EMU.
Recognizing Extremist Narratives

• Extremists tend to focus on a mix of ideological, political, moral,

religious and social narratives, based on a range of real or imagined
grievances,
• Delivery methods may vary, however, the main focus today is on a
range of multimedia tools and techniques (pictures, video, music) in
high volume and spread across a number of platforms such as
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Whatsapp and Telegram to name only a
few.
• Narratives are comprised of compelling stories and arguments
delivered by charismatic individuals designed to influence a
generation of young people who use electronic devices as their main
source of information and interaction with others
• The narratives provide a simplistic, unifying ideological structure,
which combines facts with half-truths and misinformation.
Recognizing Extremist Narratives

• Religious extremists tend to reject the notion of peaceful co-

existence between different faith-based communities; they reject
dissent and choice.
• Extreme right-wing nationalist movements, usually associated with
fascism or neo-Nazism, glorify the identity of a race or nationality,
and oppose trends towards more diverse societies that can
undermine the supremacy of that identity.
• Extreme left-wing movements oppose capitalism, aim to establish
through violence a new politico-economic order, and are sometimes
associated with violent anarchistic movements.
• Separatist groups – often with a strong identity-based inspiration –
aim to withdraw from existing entities through independence or
some form of political autonomy.
 Examples of Extremist Narratives

1. “Our religion / race is under attack and we must

defend it” – Victim Narrative
2. “They are stealing our ancestral lands/ jobs / our
women” – Oppressive Narrative
3. “Those who do not belong to our religion are not
welcome in our land” – Xenophobic Narrative
 Group Activity: Creating Narratives
Part 1:

Identify three Negative Narratives common to your region

that are used by VEOs
• Write these down on a meta-card
• Post your metacards on your group’s Manila paper
• Designate a reporter to present your group output
Group Activity: Creating Narratives

Part 2
Create a counter-narrative for the negative VEO
narratives.
• Write these down on a meta-card
• Post your metacards on your group’s Manila paper
• Designate a reporter to present your group output
Part 3

Create powerful positive alternative narratives (as an FB post)

for each of the Negative Narratives using the Hashtag
#OURmindaNOW, that empowers youth, and promotes peace
and social cohesion.
• Designate a group mate who will post this on his/her FB wall
• Designated group mate will tag all the members of the group
(you need to be “FB friends” first)
• Group members will “allow” the post to show on their
timelines
• Add EAI Communications Unit (Irish and Val) as FB friends so
they can monitor and count all likes and shares / reach of
your alternative message
• Members from other groups cannot like, share, or comment
on your group’s posts
 END

Daghang Salamat!