ABSTRACT
We all make use of narratives to make sense of the world, but some narratives are noticeably promoted more so than others and sustain certain policies rather than others. It is important to study these narratives, for while they are discursive in nature, their impact is material. Drylands, for example, are persistently presented as wastelands, legitimizing their capture and exploitation. ‘Winning’ narratives are intuitive, appeal to simple, causal, explanatory beliefs, and are clothed in neutral scientific language, spreading globally through policy travel. Crisis narratives invoking life-or-death decisions tend to trump other narratives. Narratives, however, are not written in stone but have life cycles—and after they rise, they may be challenged by counternarratives, merge and adapt, or fade and die. Three influential narratives illustrate the approach in this chapter: water wars, the Sustainable Development Goals, and energy transition. Calling out these narratives and their underlying ideologies can contribute to more ‘polyphonic’ policymaking.
