Liberation Stories: Building Narrative Power for 21st Century Social Movements

In this informative if uneven anthology, Matthews, founder of the Radical Communicators Network, “an organization working to build narrative power for social justice,” teams up with Zukowska, an immigrants’ rights activist, and members of the RCN to grapple with how social movements ought to convey their messages to the public. Many of the entries share some common elements; for instance, a chapter on trans liberation and a section on fat positivity both point to the importance of enlisting “unlikely allies.” Various contributors also argue for considering the long view. Sometimes this feels reasonable, like with the suggestion that, as major social media platforms “mine our data and censor us,” radical communicators should invest in their “own forms of autonomous media infrastructure.” But at other times it can feel like managing expectations, such as in an essay about police brutality in Nigeria; while many consider the #EndSARS movement only a partial success because such police violence continues, this volume’s contributors call it an “outright success” because of how it is “speaking truth to power” and “building a narrative voice.” Some of the anthology’s language is hyperbolic or over-generalizes (“Mainstream-media narratives of Black people’s encounters with the police cannot be trusted”), and its persistent liberal-bashing will probably alienate some of the aforementioned “likely” allies. It’s a missed opportunity to preach to more than just the choir. (June)