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Tag Archives: metanarratives
What it means to be a “we”
Today I read a really interesting idea in the New York Times. Columnist Jay Caspian Kang proposed that maybe it’s time to treat the “unhoused” (a.k.a. “homeless”) as a protected group. If this were to happen, he foresees three main … Continue reading →
Empirical and conceptual science: a vital partnership
It’s great fun to be an interdisciplinary thinker. It’s exciting to make connections that shed new light on old problems. I love the world “outside the box.” Or rather, here’s the graphic on my ironic Halloween t-shirt: Even though it’s … Continue reading →
How the War on Terror gave us Donald Trump
Twenty years ago, the United States began waging a “war” on terror, and now we learn that it was War on Terror ideas that fueled Trump’s rise to power. Today, the NYT’s Ezra Klein interviewed his colleague, Spencer Ackerman, about … Continue reading →
George Packer’s four warring visions
Are we really “Four Americas,” as George Packer’s recent Atlantic article tells us? Does this really mean, as he says, that “competing visions of the country’s purpose and meaning are tearing it apart”? I haven’t yet read his new book, … Continue reading →
“Happily ever after!” The new GOP storyline
On the one hand, it’s heartening that Republicans recently voted to make Juneteenth a new federal holiday. On the other hand, with all the Lost Cause handwringing during the Trump years, one wonders why. In a recent Slate interview, historian … Continue reading →
Posted in narrative science, US politics
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Tagged authoritarianism, critical race theory, history, metanarratives, politics, stories
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2 Comments
The ‘agile dolphin’ plan: Boris Johnson’s meta-narrative vision for Britain
Say what you will about British Prime Minister Boris Johnson – the man clearly grasps the political power of meta-narratives. Tom McTague profiled Johnson in the latest issue of The Atlantic, and concluded that to Johnson, “the point of politics … Continue reading →
How China’s ruling story helped kill 2.6 million people, and counting
So far, more than 2,640,000 people around the world have died from COVID-19. Thanks to the vaccines, maybe the death toll won’t climb much higher, and maybe life will soon return to normal. But is there anything China could have … Continue reading →
A thousand years of grievance? Here???
When I write about speeches that get people really riled up – as part of our research team’s ongoing study of genocide – one of my favorite examples is Slobodan Milošević’s Gazimestan speech. About a million Serbs showed up to … Continue reading →
Posted in history, narrative science, US politics
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Tagged history, metanarratives, politics
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2 Comments
The hidden danger of stories – and a friendly alternative
Audiences loved the 2019 Downton Abbey movie, but some reviewers found fault. The New York Times review noted there was “barely enough plot to go around.” The critic for RogerEbert.com frames it more positively: It’s a movie about seeing people … Continue reading →
When is a story not a story?
This question comes up a lot in my line of work – honestly, all too often. Let’s start with a definition. A story is a description of a particular event or series of events with a focus on one or … Continue reading →
The Meta-Narrator 