Media

March 2023

Ethical storytelling: another development buzzword or a real chance for change?

The push for “authentic storytelling” in development—championed by initiatives like the Pledge for Change—is an important step toward more ethical practice. But what does “authenticity” really mean? This post argues that truth is not the essence of storytelling. Instead, the focus should be on ownership, representation, and the how of storytelling: Who shapes the narrative? Whose perspectives are amplified?

Drawing on insights from the Ibali research project, the post explores the risks and transformative potential of people-led storytelling. Done well, it can highlight overlooked experiences, challenge assumptions, and build shared humanity. Done poorly, it risks reproducing power imbalances.

April 2025

From storytelling to story-making.

Skip Bivens AR+ Yes/And Action research Podcast with Joanna Wheeler and Katie Collins.

April 2025

Using Storytelling in Research and Communication

A conversation with Prof. Alison on story and storytelling. We look at how stories can be used in research, communications, and understanding how people learn. The conversation encompasses ethical storytelling and the importance of ownership and representation, making the point that even though this series is interested in innovative methods, storytelling is not another method, but a different way of thinking about how knowledge is generated.

September 2018

This article sets out the case for transformative storywork as an approach that can contribute to social change. Transformative storywork is a complex and multi-modal process which operates on an emotional, creative level. It uses storytelling as a form of inquiry, including the exploration of the self and of daily experiences in connection with life history and social context. Through personal and collective creative expression, transformative storywork builds opportunities to challenge unequal relations of power in our own lives and the lives of others. We argue that creative expression through crafting personal stories, within a group-based process, enables a deeper understanding of our lives, and importantly, ourselves in relation to others. This relational learning enables reflection on our own stories and experiences. Building from these story processes, further deconstruction of the power relations within different life stories builds an understanding of the structural injustices that affect people’s shared realities. This change was not only witnessed, but was also both experienced personally and politically by the authors, and the paper will outline reflexive learnings within these processes to communicate for social change.

September 2018

Everyday experiences of trauma and violence are difficult to access and articulate, and yet have significant weight in shaping relationships of power, access, and rights. This article responds to this epistemological challenge by exploring how storytelling can be used to work into the deep gaps and brutal silences that characterize life on the margins in Cape Town. This article traces an engaged story-based form of research with people from informal settlements and townships to examine how political subjectivities are shaped and enacted through storytelling about everyday life. In terms of political subjectivity, it is possible to consider two distinct but interrelated processes within storytelling: the constitution of the person as a political subject through the interpolation of their personal experiences into public, recognizable meanings. Secondly, the constitution of the possibility of gaining a position which can be recognized and the possibility to act on this position. This article explores in greater depth the ways in which this happens. While this approach has many challenges and tensions, it also opens new possibilities for articulating and understanding political subjectivities.

October 2020

Many contemporary political narratives tend to separate those who belong from those who do not. In this sense, they are fundamentally exclusionary. This articles shares story-led research on creating new narratives: ones which cross social divides and help to foster a sense of inclusion and belonging.

April 2021

This book brings together multidisciplinary perspectives to explore how political values and acts of resistance impact the delivery of social justice in post-colonial states. Everyday life in post-colonial states, such as South Africa and Zimbabwe, is characterized by injustices that have both a historical and contemporary nature. From fishers in Cape Town accused of poaching, to residents of Bulawayo demanding access to water, this book focuses on the relationship between the state and groups that have been historically oppressed due to being on the margins of the political, economic and social system. It draws on empirical research from 12 scholars looking at cases in Brazil, India, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Chapters explore questions such as what citizens, especially those from marginalized groups, want from the state. The book looks at the political values of citizens and how these are formed in the process of engaging with the state and through everyday injustices. It also asks why and how citizens resist the state, with examples of protest, as well as less visible forms of resistance reflecting complex histories and power relations. Finally, the book explores how narratives and counter-narratives reveal the nature of political values and perceptions of what is just. Taken together these elements show the evolution of post-colonial social contracts. Examining important themes in political science, anthropology, sociology and urban geography, this book will appeal to scholars and students interested in political values, justice, social movements and resistance.

10-11 June 2025

A gathering of artists, researchers and scientists exploring what it means to make stories with the more-than-human.

20-21 June 2025

Visitors were invited into a sensory landscape shaped by Antarctic sounds and the Aurora Australis. Guided by researchers, they created their own more-than-human stories using story cubes — layering image, texture and imagination — and added them to a growing collective display.