04/29/23

Shaping The Future With Fictional Stories

using literature for better policymaking

This piece is written in collaboration with one of my good friends, Navneet Gidda. We met in Cambridge. Navneet is now working on a think tank (in stealth) and is currently a communications lead at The Oxford Internet Institute, leading Fairwork’s communications strategy. Her work highlights best and worst practices in the digital platform economy, advocating for workers facing low pay, precarity, and poor or dangerous working conditions.

“Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth”
Albert Camus

The way policymakers approach narrative and storytelling often seems detached from the realities of everyday people who experience the tangible outcomes of the policies being crafted. In this case, policymakers are politicians, people who run think tanks, communications teams, etc. Having worked in these spaces with policymakers before, it feels like people at these levels are not equipped to truly understand the ins and outs of everyday people’s lives. Even if policymakers hail from working-class backgrounds, their positions often fail to equip them with a comprehensive understanding of the struggles faced by the people they serve. Their platforms may lack the ability to authentically connect with individuals and to listen to their stories, resulting in a disconnect between the lived experiences of the people and the policies that are made on their behalf – there is clearly a systemic issue.

There is a gap between truly understanding what people need and what is actually being given to them. There is a need to move beyond buzzwords like empathy and inclusivity. While these terms may serve to appease policymakers and support their narratives, they ultimately fall short in addressing the real needs of those affected by policy decisions.

The landscape seems to always be about building, controlling, or influencing narratives – or, how do we change the zeitgeist? 

Let's stop building narratives for a second. 

Policymakers have a tendency to prioritize the creation of their own narratives, or reshaping the few narratives they can identify to serve their agendas, over actively listening to the stories of those they represent.    

This is where they can leverage things like contemporary literature and other types of creative writing (i.e. poetry, comics, screenwriting, etc.) that sheds light on pertinent issues such as the cost of living, future of work, healthcare, and landlordism. Policymakers would greatly benefit from immersing themselves in these fictional works and allow them to inform their policymaking through formal or informal systems. 

One way to achieve this is to integrate these narratives into the policymaking process in a more structured way. Policymakers should read and analyze these stories based on real experiences to identify recurring themes and insights, drawing from the rich tapestry of real-life experiences that are often overlooked. By doing so, they can ensure that their policies reflect the lived realities of the people they serve, rather than being informed solely by their own preconceptions.

We are not saying that storytelling for policymaking is always insidious. We think that it can actually be very effective. But policymakers are too focused on MAKING stories instead of LISTENING to stories.

The allocation and utilization of resources in policymaking often leaves much to be desired. The issue at hand is how to transform the powerful narratives and experiences shared by individuals into valuable resources that can be utilized by communication and policy teams. However, policymakers often prioritize data-driven decision-making (which is great!)  and struggle to equate anecdotal, qualitative data with quantitative data. Consequently, they may overlook the potential of storytelling as a resource. 

While intuitive decision-making can be effective in some cases, policies that aim to truly address the root causes of societal issues must also be grounded in compassion and empathy. This means policymakers must engage with the inner thoughts, feelings, and emotions of individuals that are affected by their decisions. While data-driven decision-making can provide valuable insights, it cannot capture the full range of human experience, and policymakers must rely on other sources, such as narrative and storytelling, to truly understand the impact of their decisions.

However, mobilizing the power of storytelling in policymaking is a challenge. One issue is finding equatable scenarios that policymakers can relate to and use to inform their decisions. One potential solution is the use of fictional stories that can provide a more relatable and accessible source of information. Fictional stories can be crafted to explore complex societal issues and provide a deeper understanding of the emotional experiences of individuals affected by policy decisions. By engaging with fictional stories, policymakers can gain a better understanding of the lived experiences of those impacted by their decisions and use this knowledge to inform more compassionate and effective policies.

Implementing the use of fictional stories in policymaking would require a significant shift in the way policymakers approach their work. However, if policymakers can overcome the challenge of finding equitable scenarios and recognize the value of narrative and storytelling in shaping policy decisions instead of simply pushing them, they may be better equipped to create policies that truly address the needs of individuals and communities.

This piece is 29/50 from my 50 days of writing series. Subscribe to hear about new posts.

More on Navneet

Navneet is a multidisciplinary strategic communications expert. Her work and personal ethos is influenced by several social sciences including art history, world literature, and continental philosophy. She is particularly interested in how digital communications, and the communities that form in online spaces, are reshaping human nature and decision-making. Her research explores how we can better communicate existential issues to de-escalate polarisation and produce more positive, factual narratives about future societies.

Navneet is currently leading Fairwork’s communications strategy – a project based at the Oxford Internet Institute. She is also a freelance literary critic and and visual artist (mainly collage, photography, and oil) taking courses with London Fine Arts Studios. She has previously worked for political leaders, educational institutions, think tanks, and charities in Canada, America, and Britain. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science & Philosophy from the University of Alberta and a Master’s in Strategic Communications from King’s College London’s renowned Department of War Studies.