How stories change reality, particularly in the cases of climate change and social conflict: A summary of 15 years of research in 30 minutes

Stories are accounts of a sequence of events leading to a transition of a character from an initial state to a later state. Whether in the form of comics, novels, movies, TV series, social media posts, fake news, political spin, or spectator sports, people consume billions of narratives of various forms every day. In turn, these narratives change consumers’ behaviour. Given these implications, nothing is less innocent than a story. Narratives of various forms can change people’s attitudes towards rights, freedom, and responsibility. As an early example, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin played a significant role in galvanizing public opinion against slavery. Abraham Lincoln allegedly made the same assertion, calling Stowe when he met her “the little woman who wrote the book that made this great [Civil] war!” More contemporary examples include the persuasive power of soap operas, which influence family planning choices and changes in social norms around the world. Tom van Laer will reveal, in turn, how these effects occur; how the lines of contemporary fiction can explain resistance to climate action; and what links published novels and real-world conflicts that have happened in the recent past.