Matters of Truth - The Power of Framing and the Cultural Narratives of Whistleblowing

Explore the cultural narratives about whistleblowers that ignite explosions of truth and justice, and the frames we use to defame them — both knowingly and unknowingly.

In Matters of Truth, Carlo Agostoni explores the frames and narratives shaping our understanding of whistleblowing, truth-telling, and their cultural histories. Narratives of whistleblowing are stories of truth-telling, first and foremost, but they are also stories of complication and conflicts of interest. The whistleblower is remedy and cure for some and poison and treason for others. But the anchor of the whistleblower is the immensity of factuality - an anchor that pulls him down and turns him into a tragic hero. But truth-telling is not the dominant frame surrounding whistleblowing in media, scholarship, nor politics. One of the dominant frames used to describe whistleblowing is leaking. Frames are not just words; they constitute the cognitive structures we think with. Framing a social phenomenon as 'leaking' taps into our neural circuitry and a hidden realm of deep narratives. It is therefore imperative to study these narratives and frames that rule our unconscious and yield moral narratives we are commonly unaware of - especially with a sociocultural phenomenon such as whistleblowing. Drawing on a wealth of examples and a wide range of philosophers, sociologists, cognitive linguists, literary critics, historians, and social psychologists, Carlo Agostoni analyzes the cultural narratives about whistleblowers that ignite explosions of truth and justice and the frames we use to defame them - both knowingly and unknowingly. Words matter. Narratives matter. Especially in matters of truth.