Workshop: The Ethics of Storytelling
In what has been described as an “age of total narrative,” storytelling plays an increasingly central role in public discourse, professional practice, and everyday life. Yet, systematic exchanges between research on narratives and applied narrative practices remain surprisingly limited. This workshop addresses this gap by examining how narratives operate in real-world settings: how they persuade, mobilize, include and exclude, stabilize identities, and shape ethical judgments across domains such as healthcare, management, organizational consultancy, environmental activism, education, and digital media.
Positioning itself within the rapidly expanding field of applied narratology (the study of narratives), the workshop introduces an ethical applied narratology that foregrounds questions of responsibility, power, and consequence. It treats storytelling not as a neutral tool but as a culturally and politically charged resource whose use demands critical reflection. Participants will be invited to reflect on how narrative practices can be designed, evaluated, and intervened in to foster greater justice, reflexivity, and sustainability. To this end, the workshop deliberately moves beyond narratology’s traditional focus on literary texts and abstract models while retaining the field’s critical orientation toward narrative as a formative social and ethical force.