The Story of Our Lives: Narrative Change Strategies in Climate Litigation

Abstract

This chapter examines the role that stories and narratives can play in the development of climate litigation strategies. Part I covers an introduction to thinking on narratives, the way they work to support or challenge the status quo, and some helpful definitions. Part II looks at some examples of successful reframings of narratives in campaigns. Part III draws on the existing literature on narratives in climate litigation to highlight some dominant narratives that are problematic and some new narratives that are being deployed. This chapter concludes with a suggested checklist for considering narratives in climate litigation strategies and case work and pointers to additional resources and networks.