Could animal freedom campaigners and LGBT+ rights campaigners work together for the benefit of all? The answer is in their shared values…
Dr Rob Udale, who leads Animal Think Tank’s Narrative research project, recently conducted research which found that orienting an audience to a social justice issue (LGBT+ rights) led to stronger expressions of support for animal freedom. This seemed to us to be a great example of bleedover between values underpinning concern for social justice and […]
Are we beginning to see a backlash in the mainstream against the excessive importance placed on extrinsic values?
This week, a group of online ‘influencers’ have come under fire for sharing glowing videos of a paid trip to a factory in China owned by controversial fast fashion retailer, Shein. The company has previously been accused of abusing workers and breaching rules around working hours. The public reaction to what has been called “propaganda” […]
Might mainstream news reporting contribute to the ‘values perception gap’ and why might it matter?
In the UK we have almost become accustomed to seeing headlines in (mostly) right wing and conservative media about refugees and people seeking asylum that have famously included ‘The Swarm in Our Streets’ and more recently focussed on government plans to ‘stop the boats’. But do these messages, and the values that underpin them, truly […]
Save the human animal earthlings
Many years ago Amnesty International ran a marketing campaign with the strapline “Save the Human”. When I first noticed it on the tube, I saw it as an attempt to encourage people who donate to conservation charities to pause and reassess their priorities. Before donating to help save the tiger, or the bees, the slogan […]
To unpathed waters, undreamed shores*
Over the past few years there has been rising interest in the transformative power of social (sometimes referred to as collective or public) imagination and the idea that we urgently need to invest in imaginative practice if we are to see real and ambitious solutions to global problems like climate destruction. Thinkers, like Geoff Mulgan, […]
What we’ve valued this year
We hope that our email finds you well and warm, or that it doesn’t find you at all, as you are far away from your device resting and restoring. As we come to the end of the Gregorian year we’d like to share with you our favourite cultural experiences of the year which embody the values […]
Parenting from a place of values
They say to write about what you know, but instead I’m writing about what I’m spending much of my time thinking about these days; parenting, and specifically, values-led parenting. Last week I heard someone say, for the hundredth time: “good boy” and clap one of my children for eating vegetables/climbing the stairs/not throwing their food […]
Instead of relying on old narratives, it’s time to build power for new ones
Organisations that want to tackle the climate crisis have a duty to ensure that the deeper narratives that their work reinforces, and the values that underpin them, are in service to the world they want to see. Nudge theory – the beloved strategy of neo-liberal governments, businesses and many NGOs alike – argues that many […]