approaches were to find expression in various kinds of instrumental projects and campaigns designed by governments, strategists, and foundations. Storytelling as a Resource Social movement storytelling was retooled in the context of post-conflict societies and emergent neoliberal orders. But in a contemporary era of accelerated and contested neoliberalism, this revised model of storytelling comes to play a different kind of function, one that, drawing on George Yúdice (2003), I as a Yúdice (2003:1) call, “storytelling resource.” makes the argument that in a global is much more than commodity; it era, “culture-as-resource is the lynchpin of a new epistemic framework in which ideology and much of what Foucault called disciplinary into an economic or society…are absorbed ecological rationality.” Investment in culture is seen as a way of strengthening civil society, building capacity, and enhancing social capital, serving as a host for economic and political development. Culture is recruited to improve social conditions, spur economic growth, enhance education, resolve racial strife, and reverse urban blight (Yúdice 2003:1-13). Applying argument, I suggest that storytelling Yúdice’s strategies employed by NGOs, development agencies and non-profits also function in this utilitarian way. It is the case that earlier forms of social movement storytelling such as Menchú’s testimonio or narratives in feminist rallies also served an instrumental role, that is, they women’s attempted to use stories as a way to attract supporters and build their movement. The difference is that the concept of as a is linked to the 1990s and beyond when social “storytelling resource” and political life are increasingly oriented to the market, and culture is conceived of in terms of the direct and indirect returns it provides.
approaches were to find expression in various kinds of instrumental projects and campaigns designed by governments, strategists, and foundations. Storytelling as a Resource Social movement storytelling was retooled in the context of post-conflict societies and emergent neoliberal orders. But in a contemporary era of accelerated and contested neoliberalism, this revised model of storytelling comes to play a different kind of function, one that, drawing on George Yúdice (2003), I call, “storytelling as a resource.” Yúdice (2003:1) makes the argument that in a global era, “culture-as-resource is much more than commodity; it is the lynchpin of a new epistemic framework in which ideology and much of what Foucault called disciplinary society…are absorbed into an economic or ecological rationality.” Investment in culture is seen as a way of strengthening civil society, building capacity, and enhancing social capital, serving as a host for economic and political development. Culture is recruited to improve social conditions, spur economic growth, enhance education, resolve racial strife, and reverse urban blight (Yúdice 2003:1-13). Applying Yúdice’s argument, I suggest that storytelling strategies employed by NGOs, development agencies and non-profits also function in this utilitarian way. It is the case that earlier forms of social movement storytelling such as Menchú’s testimonio or women’s narratives in feminist rallies also served an instrumental role, that is, they attempted to use stories as a way to attract supporters and build their movement. The difference is that the concept of “storytelling as a resource” is linked to the 1990s and beyond when social and political life are increasingly oriented to the market, and culture is conceived of in terms of the direct and indirect returns it provides.
Politics-and-Protest-paper.docx