IAS Talking Points Seminar: Mass Harm, Storytelling and the Unsaid

Recent white supremacist attacks make abundantly clear how stories can mobilize harm. Stories set out insiders and outsiders, heroes and adversaries; they construct dire circumstances, righteous actions, and inevitable outcomes. Both what is said and what is not said have an influence. For example, stories of so-called white genocide depend on silence concerning the socially constructed nature of race. Those stories simply do not work if race is not a biological fact. Likewise, to have their desired impact they must exclude histories of displacement and colonization. For my current project I aim to develop a methodology for determining what has been left out of stories with which tellers achieve or seek to achieve domination. The politically fraught story of “the caravan” of migrants bound for the United States from Central America is used for exposition.

All welcome. Please note that there may be photography and/or audio recording at some events and that admission is on a first come first served basis. Please follow this FAQ link for more information.