The mic is not properly placed. “Where should I put it?” Lejla asks, patting her headscarf, looking for a good place to position her mic. A technician comes over to the table and helps her attach the small microphone. Kübra and Yasmine are seated next to her. All three are a little nervous. The ceiling-mounted spotlight casts a bright light onto a cardboard box on the table in front of the girls. This is the final and most exciting part of their almost year-long work: They are about to shoot a video about the campaign they created.
Lejla, Kübra, and Yasmine are three of a total of 12 candidates selected for the Narrative Change Academy (NCA), a project run by the exchange platform Young Islam Conference of the Schwarzkopf Foundation Young Europe. Launched in May 2023 in Berlin, the NCA is a series of four workshops to train young Europeans aged 18 to 27 from France, the UK, and Germany in campaign management. The second cohort of the academy will start in September 2024, this time in Brussels, and will be open to young people from all European countries.
How can we counter widespread racist sentiments in Europe?
The first cohort is quite diverse: devout Muslims, people of Jewish faith, and people with no religious affiliation, European citizens and non-citizens. They share an academic background and a desire to work toward a common, diverse, and open-minded Europe.
The guiding question of this education project is: How can we counter widespread discriminatory, racist and Islamophobic sentiments in Europe? At a studio in the Neukölln district of Berlin, Lejla, Kübra, Yasmine, and the other participants are sitting in front of a box that holds their answer to this question. The box is part of a campaign they developed in the workshops. It contains personal items that reveal aspects of the participants’ preferences, hobbies, and personalities. Lejla, Kübra, and Yasmine are about to start guessing who contributed which object. They are being filmed, and the footage will later be published on social media. The point of the guessing game is to playfully challenge prejudices and show people as distinct and unique members of our society. The idea is to counter the widespread notion that Muslims are a dangerous and threatening group and to replace that idea with memorable facts about individuals.
It’s early November 2023 and the fourth and final workshop has begun. The camera crew has set up on the second floor. “Hello everyone,” says Lejla, beaming into the camera. “We have a mysterious box here,” she adds. “And we're going to unpack it now!” She opens the cardboard box. Its contents rustle as Lejla takes out an object wrapped in pink paper: a Polaroid camera. “Wow, that’s heavy!” she exclaims in surprise. Does it even work? She tries to take a photo, examines the camera, turning it back and forth in her hands. She wonders who it might belong to. What kinds of pictures does its owner like to take? And why is that person into instant photo prints?
What do objects tell us about their owners – regardless of religious affiliation or origin?
This is the guiding idea behind the entire campaign, which the Narrative Change Leaders developed under professional guidance and are now implementing in these unboxing videos: to see the people behind the prevailing prejudices about Islam in our European societies. The message sounds simple. Finding it was anything but easy though.
Changing narratives without reproducing prejudices is not that easy
“We want to change the problematic narrative, but it’s all too easy to fall into the trap of recycling the language of that very narrative,” says Aminata. Take, for example, the slogan: “No human is illegal.” The negation confirms the framework of the narrative, i.e., the assumption that people could be illegal. What sticks in people’s minds is not so much the word “no” but the words “human” and “illegal.” For the same reason, the campaigners did not want to tell the well-worn tale of “good” migrants who work hard and are well integrated, usually in professions that benefit mainstream society such as doctors or police officers, because this narrative implies that there are also bad migrants who do not fit this mold, like stay-at-home mothers.
One objective was for workshop participants to find their own narrative. Aminata, a 28-year-old from France, starts her day on the second floor above the studio in the administrative offices. This is where the country-based teams manage the distribution of their digital campaign, which will be shared on Instagram from January 2024. Which influencers could they ask? Which media should they contact? Aminata’s desk is scattered with green post-it notes full of ideas: friends, influencers, media, or partners of the Young Islam Conference such as the Allianz Foundation.
Their main target group is the “flexible middle of society” and among them, “pragmatically minded people.” According to sociologists, these are younger people who are less politically involved, socially disoriented, and usually fly under the radar of public attention. What is the best way to approach them?
It took a lot of discussion to arrive at a solution, says Aminata. “We spent a lot of time discussing the smallest details, including the wording. We all have the same vision: We want to live together in a just, safe, and united society,” she says. But how can they formulate this vision in a way that also speaks to people who are susceptible to populist narratives and prejudices?
The approach of “hope-based communication” focuses on what people could achieve based on their shared values. It is the belief that change is possible. Working for the positive rather than against the negative. And an awareness of how we talk about others, with the objective of coming closer together.
“Our campaign, the objects in the box, and the personal stories behind them are creating spaces for counternarratives,” says Jasemin Seven, head of the NCA. The videos tell the stories of young people, including young Muslims, who have not been given enough space in the public sphere. “Good things happen when we open up,” Seven adds. That is why the online campaign asks its viewers: “What’s in your box?” Viewers are encouraged to pack three items of their own in a box and share their own story.
How are we led by preconceived notions about other people? What language do we use?
The narrative and campaign experts Thomas Coombes (hope-based comms) and Gesine Schmidt-Schmiedbauer and Philip Doyle (one step beyond) supported and guided the NCA members in developing the campaign. Doyle is very happy with the outcome of the workshops. It was not easy for everyone to assume the perspective of the target group, he said, “but it’s important that young people have the confidence to make a change.” He feels that the academy has reached its goal of helping young people become Narrative Leaders.
NCA head Jasemin Seven was particularly touched by the group dynamics between the participants. “They debated with each other respectfully, voicing strong opinions while also giving each other space to grow from the discussions.”
David can confirm this. As a Fellow of the NCA, he helped develop the concept and strategy for the academy. Born in Germany and of Jewish faith, David is aware of the harmful potential of discrimination and prejudice, but also of his own privileges. After participating in the campaign, he was impressed: “First, you look at people’s items, you comment on them, assess them, and think of associations – and then these people reveal themselves, and I just thought: Wow, I did not expect that.”
The campaign videos are meant to trigger a similar process in the viewers to reflect and become aware of the assumptions they make about other people. And not least, to be aware of the language they use to talk about others, because language can also bring people closer together. “We found a whole new way to learn about each other through the objects and the conversations,” says Aminata. It created a connection that transcends borders.
The Polaroid camera, by the way, was Lejla’s item. She loves photography and capturing memories and feelings to share and connect with other people.
Susanne Lang is a Berlin-based freelance editor and journalist.