Narratives are the wealth of nations: they animate life, sustain culture and cultivate humanity. They regulate and empower us, bringing both joy and discontent. And they are always embedded in ubiquitous power: stories shape power, and power shapes story.
In this provocative and original study, Ken Plummer takes us on a journey to explore some of the key dimensions of this narrative power. His main focus is on what he calls 'narratives of suffering' and how these change through transformative narrative actions across an array of media forms. The modern world is in crisis, and long-standing narratives are being challenged in five major directions: through deep inequalities, global state complexities, digital risks, the perpetual puzzle of truth and the ever-emerging contingencies of time. Asking how we can build sustainable stories for a better future, the book advocates the cultivation of a narrative hope, a narrative wisdom and a politics of narrative humanity.

Narrative Power suggests novel directions for enquiry, discusses a raft of innovative ideas and concepts, and sets a striking new agenda for research and action.

Prologue: Going BackstageOVERTURE: In the Beginning1 Narratives of Suffering: Six Stories in Search of a Better WorldACT I Setting Scenes: Narrative Power as a Way of Seeing2 Narrative Actions of Power3 Narrative Power as a Struggle for Human ValueACT 2 Locating Tensions: The Fragility of Narrative4 Narrative Inequalities5 Narrative Digitalism6 Narrative States7 Narrative Wisdom8 Narrative ContingenciesACT 3 Moving On: Acts of Narrative Hope9 Caring for Narrative Futures: Towards a Politics of Narrative HumanityNotesReferencesIndex