BROKE, a project between RadComms and the Center for Public Interest Communications, reveals the harmful narratives keeping in place the outcomes of capitalism and offers new narratives grounded in liberation and respect as well as a vision for a world where everyone’s needs are met. Learn more about the project and check out the new […]
Based on an expansive research agenda, the Winning Jobs Narrative team has developed a narrative architecture that progressive advocates and leaders can draw from to frame a broad range of issues. Download the project materials including the research scan, narrative toolkit, and briefing presentation slide deck. Winning Jobs Narrative Project
When is a “win” not a win? When it makes future wins harder. Sometimes progressive policy campaigns can feel like riding a roller coaster. We win a victory at the ballot box only to see it undermined by a state legislature. We successfully sign a major policy into law, and yet a key element was […]
To promote policies that advance the wellbeing of Black and brown people – while centering race, not avoiding it – Topos’ research adds two approaches to the body of work on using communication as a tool of creating change. In short: A barrier to policy support for some white people is a cycle of race […]
This report represents the completion of Phase One of the Winning Jobs Narrative Project —an expansive effort to collect and review important prior and existing opinion research focused on public attitudes around jobs and the economy, as well as existing campaigns and schools of thought about economic messaging. Access the Report
To lay the groundwork for a sustained 21st century narrative change effort promoting mobility from poverty, criminal justice reform, and opportunity for all, The Opportunity Agenda embarked on a six-part narrative research study, with the aim of identifying the essential and replicable elements of past successful efforts, gleaning the insights captured in academic literature, […]
To what extent is this unprecedented pandemic shifting thinking about care work? The FrameWorks Institute is exploring this question as part of our empirical study on culture change during a time of upheaval. Access the Report
This report synthesizes the complex body of research around existing poverty narratives and counter-narratives, with practical advice about how to use narratives to create better stories—and, ultimately, to create social change. Access the Report
Published in 2021, this report identifies dominant, emerging, and enduring narratives shaping the landscape at the nexus of Covid-19, workers, jobs, and the economy. Access the Report
Topos research in Kansas points to the opportunity to nurture a cultural shift in Americans’ thinking about taxes and spending that is less reflexively negative and which instead stresses that broadly shared prosperity, quality of life, and a thriving nation rely on effective government, so we all have a stake in ensuring sufficient, sustainable revenues […]
This multipart research effort by Topos serves as a detailed map of the cultural understandings that influence public debate on taxes and budgets. To build public support for progressive tax policy, Topos’ research points to the need for an explanatory model anchored by a vivid metaphor. In short, the tax system is upside-down – it […]
For historically marginalized communities, a distant, even oppressive, government is nothing new. Yet the pain of declining community investments, the rise of a police surveillance state, and the weight of inequity is felt acutely. In 2017, Topos embarked on a project to listen to the voices of people who have been marginalized by elected leaders, […]
This short video provides examples of how Mainers reacted to hearing about evidence of economic success of a tax and budget policy from another state. Watch the Video