Belief as Blueprint: Myth, Imagination, and Social Change
The Frameworks Institute showed that we want change but can’t even imagine it—let’s dig into myth, belief, and the radical power of imagination to get us there.
It feels quite strange to be sending out a newsletter this week. It’s like we woke up in a twisted neoliberal time loop, and I feel very disoriented…
But I’m not here to talk about the national election for the sake of my own sanity. I do, however, want to talk about belief and the failure of imagination in our country - factors on full display right now. I’m very curious about how what we believe impacts how we move in the world. My approach to mythological studies — because it is a multivalent field — is the study of us, and how our spiritual beliefs have shaped cultural systems throughout history. Most often this means looking at the psychological, spiritual, political, and social legacies of myth and religion. This approach informs my academic research and what I share here on Substack. You can even see it in the Art Heaux Chronicles, since most of the art I end up engaging with explores the same themes within Black art.
I’m interested in learning how we can change culture intentionally instead of in reactionary ways, and I think a good place to start making those changes is in our imagination by looking at what we believe and how that informs our daily lives and the way we collectively build society.
Last week I read the Frameworks Institute’s most recent The State of American Culture report. You know what the first key finding was? According to their research through a series of focus groups and surveys, “Americans are deeply dissatisfied with the state of our country and think things should change—but aren’t sure what that change should look like” (3). Ain’t that some shit? We want to change the world we live in but are having a really hard time coming up with ideas about how to do so.
Overall there were seven key findings in the report. I want to highlight three skills we must cultivate if we want to transform our culture: think systemically about our issues, engage our radical imagination, and take organized action toward what we envision.
We must cultivate a broader ability to help people see how systems influence daily life
Systemic thinking refers to the understanding that the lives of individuals are shaped by our broader culture. Their previous culture report showed that respondents thought more systemically about cultural issues in 2020,1 a mindset that began to plateau about two years later, and then dipped in 2023.2
Individualistic thinking is a mindset that believes the outcomes of people’s daily lives are due to their choices, and this mental model is growing among people ages 18–29, especially regarding public health and race. “Taken together, these results suggest that younger people are retrenching in mindsets that justify the status quo and existing power relations and that blame individuals for problems they face” (18).
My approach to mythological studies leans toward systemic thinking and dissects how the constructs of a society have direct daily impacts on the people who live in them. Once we learn to see the web of social constructs we live in, it then becomes easier to address those we want to change, rather than being snatched back and forth with the pendulum of reactionary responses to cultural shifts.
Imagination is the fuel for radical action
On the one hand, people really want a different world but struggle to think of futures that would satisfy them. However, even if they did find solutions, they believe the government would undermine them. Per the Frameworks Institute, “we see people deeply unhappy with the status quo—often because they see our society as rigged by the powerful few against the many” (4).
We are in an imagination battle… Imagination gives us borders, gives us superiority, gives us race as an indicator of ability. I often feel I am trapped inside someone else's capability. I often feel I am trapped inside someone else's imagination, and I must engage my own imagination in order to break free.
adrienne maree brown, Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds
My approach to mythological studies is inspired by brown, as well as Octavia Butler, Mariame Kaba, Lucille Clifton, and others. For me it has been a tool for sharpening my creativity, building courage, and practicing hope. Studying the ways that individuals and relatively small groups of people have transformed history in every age encourages me to do the work necessary to fight for our lives. By returning to that sweet spot of myth and imagination (i.e., my research interests) every week, I draw from a well of generativity and nourishment that does not allow me to succumb to despair and nihilism.
No one is coming to save us
Frameworks Institute research participants believed that a charismatic leader could bring the changes they want. ”Even when asked to imagine what a better future might look like, solutions are hard to come by, hoping that perhaps technology or charismatic leaders could help us overcome our divisions as a society and make life better” (6).
This is the most troubling and perhaps depressing of the key findings from the Frameworks Institute. I hate to break it to you, but no one is coming to save us. Anyone who promises to deliver sweeping fixes to our individual problems is dangerous and untrustworthy.
Nearly all the great mythic traditions of the world emerged as responses to change or in resistance to a social or material reality their adherents wanted to defy. Myth shows me that we have the power to radically remake ourselves and our world, but we have to do it. No one else will – or should – do it for us.
It takes organized, collective action to shift the status quo. I have some ideas about how we can do this, all informed by my graduate research and ten years of experience facilitating innovative social transformation efforts. I’m looking forward to sharing that information very soon, so make sure you’re on the list to receive the announcement when it’s ready.
Visit the Frameworks Institute IG for a quick summary of the research findings. You can read the full report on their website.
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See Frameworks Institute, 2023 Research Update “At-a-Glance”. at https://www.frameworksinstitute.org/publication/findings-and-reflections-from-our-second-year-studying-culture-change/.
See Frameworks Institute, “The State of American Culture: 2023-2024”, p. 10 at https://www.frameworksinstitute.org/publication/the-state-of-american-culture-2023-2024/.