However, a careful analysis of these narratives suggests that it was never really about vaccines.
The public discourse surrounding COVID-19 and preventative measures has served as a catalyst for broader societal conflicts, such as the tension between human interests and corporate influence, the balance between environmental protections and technological development, the struggle between individual rights and governmental authority, and the delicate equilibrium between individual freedom and collective solidarity.
NODES researchers analysed a broad corpus of data (newspaper articles, blog posts, as well as social media posts) in four European languages (English, French, Spanish and Polish). Adopting a different approach based on narratology and social psychology of narratives, they created a detailed chart outlining the basic motives, which were clustered into six dominant narratives associated with underlying values.
Narratives — or simply the stories we share, are the primary tool by which we communicate, assimilate, and store information. They unite and divide us, creating and sustaining ‘narrative communities’. In the case of COVID-19, the dominant narratives are primarily linked to issues around trust and solidarity.
Professor Andrzej Nowak, Chief Narrative Scientist at Re-Imagine Europa and Lead Researcher of NODES, highlighted that “even if COVID-19 is no longer at the centre of the public debate, understanding those narratives can help us predict the ones which will spread on epidemics and other disasters, as the narrative scheme we have discovered is likely to be repeated in similar situations in the future.”
Yearning for stabilisation
This narrative treats COVID-19 as a serious threat, however it focuses on critique of governments, institutions, elites, or big companies for their ineffectiveness, sluggishness, or greed.
Values: security, stabilisation, distrust in (current) government
Keywords: chaos, mess, lack of control, collapse, crisis, irresponsibility, confusion
Top-down stabilisation
This narrative treats COVID-19 as a serious threat. Institutions are perceived as a shield that can protect society against both the virus itself and the chaos that may result from the pandemic.
Values: order, security, stabilisation, trust in government
Keywords: calm, control, order, rules, responsibility, relief, package, programme
Bottom-up solidarity
This narrative treats COVID-19 as a serious threat and a major challenge to our humanity and empathy. Different forms of bottom-up solidarity and responsible, altruistic behaviour are presented as effective means of mitigating the crisis, while egoism and carelessness are a major threat to society.
Values: solidarity, empathy, cooperation, responsibility
Keywords: solidarity, together, hand-in-hand, responsibility, help
We need to resist the COVID dystopia
This narrative does not consider COVID-19 to be a serious threat and contends that the pandemic is portrayed as either non-existent or significantly embellished. It alleges that the pandemic is used to justify the imposition of restrictions on individual freedoms, fostering a perceived dominance of so-called ‘experts’ and large corporations. In some more radical versions of this narrative, preventive measures, such as vaccines, may be considered extremely harmful.
Values: individual freedom, entrepreneurship
Keywords: utopia, totalitarian, madness, agenda
Raw explanation
This narrative neglects the aspect of human agency. It focuses predominantly on elucidating the virus's operational mechanisms — be they physical, biological, or chemical — and outlining potential effective preventive measures without providing specific recommendations or establishing guidelines. Furthermore, it presents the dynamic aspects of the current situation, such as the fluctuating numbers of casualties.
This narrative interweaves evidence-based information with unverified theories and fake news. The challenge lies in discerning these elements at the narrative pattern level, making it difficult to distinguish between substantiated facts and speculative or false content.
Keywords: mechanism, number
The world has changed
This narrative portrays the pandemic as a profound disruption that has brought about significant and dramatic changes to our world. Among these changes, some, such as the shift to remote learning, working from home, and a decrease in nonessential travel, are viewed as potential positive outcomes.
Contrary to the previous narrative, these changes are not ‘fluctuations’ but permanent ‘megatrends’.
Keywords: change, opportunity, never be the same