Harnessing the Power of Identity
to release human growth & potential, build resilience & cohesion, regenerate communities, reduce violence and meet global challenges
RELEASE HUMAN POTENTIAL
SELF DEVELOPMENT
EDUCATION
INTERPERSONAL GROWTH
SOCIAL COHESION & EQUALITY
INCLUSION & PRODUCTIVITY
C L I C K T O E X P A N D
The quality of our self-representations – our identities – is fundamental to our ability to grow and lead positive mental and social lives. How we see ourselves and others determines our decisions and actions, and thus identity can make or break our ability to reach our human potential.
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SELF DEVELOPMENT
Our ideas of who we are have the power to limit us in countless ways - narrowing our sense of what we are capable of. But expanded and multiple versions of who we are can help empower us to identify and release our potential, build resilience and overcome challenges.
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EDUCATION & INTERPERSONAL GROWTH
By helping our children, family, colleagues and those we serve to build resilience against negative uses of identity, and by increasing the quality of self-representations that can be accessed by us all, we can foster positive child and adult development and build healthier relationships.
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SOCIAL COHESION & EQUALITY
Stereotypical representations of “self” and “other” have the power to reproduce social and economic inequalities. By working to renew and enrich cultural ideas of “us” and “them” we can breakthrough prejudices and promote equality, citizenship and cohesion in communities.
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INCLUSION & PRODUCTIVITY
Becoming more aware of how and why we create “us” and “them” representations, we can proactively design inclusion into our teams, communities and organizational cultures, increasing the quality of our relationships and our productivity as a result.
MEET GLOBAL CHALLENGES
MEDIA LITERACY
HEALTH & CLIMATE CHANGE
CITIZENSHIP
VIOLENCE PREVENTION
CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION
C L I C K T O E X P A N D
Through the manipulation of “us” and “them”, identities are exploited and weaponized. Reversing the spread of this divisive influence is critical to maintaining public health, democracy and human rights, and to confronting climate change, conflict and war.
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MEDIA LITERACY & EDUCATION
The pace of change in communications technology has left billions vulnerable to identity weaponization by disinformation. While polarization and its consequences flourish, identity can also be used to build the critical literacies and cohesion which can help redress these forces.
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PUBLIC HEALTH & CLIMATE CHANGE
The politicalization and weaponization of identity results in communities which shut themselves off from access to evidence-based messaging critical for maintaining public health and addressing climate change. But these same forces can be reversed - harnessed to build strategies which breakthrough these cultural barriers to get information through in ways which can resonate.
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INFORMED CITIZENSHIP
While “us” and “them” representations are exploited in order to mobilize people towards divisive political or military actions, genuine forms of citizenship are in danger of being eroded. Regenerating lost/stolen representations of us/them can help increase resilience and counteract social fracturing.
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VIOLENCE PREVENTION
The power of identity is used to build ideas which weaponize us against them, supporting violent hate crime, gang violence, violent extremism, terrorism and genocide. These processes can be reversed with responsive and preventive measures which understand and engage with the core needs that identity serves.
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CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION
Divisive narratives and propaganda support conflicts and war at all scales. Rather than allow these negative uses of identity and their consequences to gain traction, we can use the same Power of Identity to proactively outcompete these divisive forces and create the mental and social options that can release and protect hearts and minds.
HOW TO HARNESS IDENTITY
SEE FROM WITHIN
SEE ROOT CAUSES
EXPAND OPTIONS
FOCUS ON INTRA NOT INTER
INCLUDE ARTS EDUCATION
C L I C K T O E X P A N D
Harnessing identity to release potential, empower individuals and groups, and/or to counter rigid or weaponized identities requires an intelligent and focused approach.
R E A D M O R E
SEE FROM WITHIN
Gaining a picture of the world as seen and experienced by individuals and groups is critical. An “EMIC” (understanding from “within”) perspective sees the stakeholder/client as the guide and the practitioner as learner.
R E A D M O R E
BE AWARE OF ROOT CAUSES
All self-representation seeks to fulfil underlying human needs. Responding to a given identity position without taking these into account can result in ineffective or harmful strategies and interventions. Incorporating this understanding, however, can maximize positive impact.
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EXPAND OPTIONS
Attempting to confront and counter problem narratives and identities is generally not effective. Instead, working with people to access a wide variety of self-representations is key to positive regeneration and transformation.
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FOCUS ON THE “INTRA”
Self-representation functions through making or breaking connections within a wider cultural network of meanings. How these meanings allow the “us” to be conceived and expressed determines how the “them” is defined and acted upon.
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INCLUDE ARTS EDUCATION
Arts Education facilitates both emotional and intellectual learning. Combined with other educational, therapeutic and science-based approaches, blending identity-based strategies into storytelling, (e.g. through theatre or visual arts), is a powerful way to re/generate identity options.
ENGAGE WITH THE OICD
TECHNOLOGIES
RESEARCH
TRAINING & PRACTICE
IMPACT EVALUATION
INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
C L I C K T O E X P A N D
Helping organizations and agencies harness identity for positive change, the OICD codevelops technologies, research, training and practice methods, and impact evaluation toolsets.
R E A D M O R E
TECHNOLOGIES
OICD software tools help visualize important identity features as well as identify and guide strategy-building and evaluation. OICD software is also tailored to context, facilitating data collection, discourse/narrative analysis and communication across teams.
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RESEARCH
Understanding self-representation “from within” in all contexts requires a diverse set of research tools. OICD research methods combine ethnographic, netnographic, oral historical, and textual discourse narrative analysis to reveal the conceptual and semantic linkages at the heart of identity.
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TRAINING & PRACTICE
Integrating new identity-based concepts, methods and technologies is best achieved by tailoring these to an organization’s existing workflow and practices. Training programs based on the cocreation of new practices support these integrations.
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IMPACT EVALUATION
Observing how individuals and groups create “us” and “them” representations over time is a reliable and accurate way of measuring the impact of programs and interventions. The OICD’s impact analysis and evaluation tools work across sector contexts.
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INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
For early-career or changing-career change agents, an OICD internship program provides a balance of learning and working which can be applied across many sectors.
OUR PARTNERS, CLIENTS & FRIENDS
 
Our partnership codevelops capacity for AfriNov to incorporate identity and cultural dynamics into their programming across conflict, communities, prisons and youth work. |
 
Our partnership with Sunrays codevelops capacity to incorporate identity and cultural dynamics into their peacebuilding and student education program. |
Our work with Climate Reality Project focused on how climate change messaging can be more effectively conceived and shared by placing identity and cultural factors at the heart of the educational and advocacy process. |
 
Our training with St. John focused on the ability to identify and "repair divisions of identity" that were leading to harmful and violent outcomes. |
We have worked with the UCL anthropology department on several occasions to host academic-practitioner workshops which explore, collect and distribute best practices. |
 
Our partnership cocreates capacity for Embrace Dialogue to incorporate identity and cultural dynamics into their dialogue and peacebuilding work, through research and arts education. |
 
We work with ArtEZ University to integrate identity and culture dynamics into their arts educator masters program, providing artists with the research tools to be more effective change agents. |
Our work with John Howard Society codeveloped a training program to help social workers incorporate identity and cultural factors into their client work. |
