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July 15th, 2025<\/p>\n
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Narratives help shape our society, culture and environment, entrenching beliefs that can help \u2014 or harm \u2014 our planet and human rights.\u00a0Tsering Yangzom Lama<\/a>, story manager at\u00a0Greenpeace International<\/a>, joins Mongabay\u2019s podcast to explain how dominant narratives \u2014 stories shaped by existing power structures and institutions \u2014 often undergird destructive industries and favor the powerful and the wealthy, and to discuss what people can do to counter such narratives.<\/p>\n In this interview, she expands upon thoughts shared in the essay \u201cHow to Reject Dominant Narratives,\u201d from the new book\u00a0Tools to Save Our Home Planet<\/em><\/a>, published by\u00a0Patagonia Books<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cA dominant narrative in reality would be anything that supports the status quo \u2026 what we have right now is a system in which we\u2019re trashing the world in which a small minority is profiting off of that destruction, and in which the vast majority of humanity does not have the basic necessities for a dignified human existence,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Countering these narratives, Lama says, requires not only logical appeals full of facts and figures, but also compelling stories that resonate with people\u2019s morals and emotions.<\/p>\n \u201c[Shift] the conversation to a completely different space,\u201d she says, \u201cperhaps a space in which you have not just the truth, but the moral authority and the backing of the stakeholders.\u201d<\/p>\n Common dominant narratives that Lama says are harmful include the separation of humans and nature, when, in reality, humans are a part of \u2014 and depend upon \u2014 nature. Also, the belief that there is a choice between either economic development or a healthy environment.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that is one of the most dangerous fallacies that\u2019s been around us,\u201d she says, pointing to the fact that food insecurity and malnutrition continue to\u00a0rise<\/a>\u00a0globally despite advances in agriculture and continued economic growth.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aI think it\u2019s important [to] present the facts, but also to say [that] there\u2019s a world in which people can have enough to eat, because they preserve nature.\u201d<\/p>\n Lama is also the author of the novel\u00a0We Measure the Earth With Our Bodies<\/em><\/a>, which contains the perspective of a Tibetan family\u2019s experience with emigration and exile.<\/p>\n Subscribe to or follow the\u00a0<\/em>Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from\u00a0Apple<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0Spotify<\/a>, and you can also listen to all episodes\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0on the Mongabay website.<\/p>\n Please send questions, feedback or comments to podcast[at]mongabay[dot]com.<\/p>\n Banner image:<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Emergent tree in the Amazon Rainforest, Ecuador. Image by Rhett A. Butler\/Mongabay.<\/em><\/p>\n Mike DiGirolamo<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is a host & associate producer for Mongabay based in Sydney. He co-hosts and edits the Mongabay Newscast. Find him on\u00a0<\/em>LinkedIn<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>Bluesky<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>Instagram<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n