Using zines in participatory social research
Speaker(s):
Bio: Dr Emmaleena K?kel? is a Research Associate at the School of Social Work and Social Policy, University of Strathclyde, Scotland. Her research expertise is in the areas of forced migration, asylum inequalities, refugee integration, cultural identity negotiation and the relationship between gender-based and structural forms of violence and harm. She has particular expertise in conducting participatory research, including practice-research engagement with third sector organisations and developing Community Advisory Boards with refugee women. She is particularly passionate about creative methods such as vignettes and zine-making, which she has also utilised in knowledge exchange and teaching.
Abstract:
Zines are non-profit self-publications which have a history in grassroots social and political activism. Although zines defy any rules of production, they commonly incorporate text, drawings and re-claimed visuals to address a range of topics that occupy the intersection between personal and political. This workshop will demonstrate the advantages of zine-making as a method in interdisciplinary and participatory social research. A short talk will draw from research which utilised zine-making with refugee women to address complex methodological and ethical considerations around power imbalances, vulnerability to harm, participation and expressive control. In the second part of the workshop, participants will reflect some of the zine-making data from the project in breakout rooms, with questions to guide the discussion. No previous experience is required to attend the session, but participants should note that some of the zine pages shown address women's experiences of potentially triggering topics, including gender-based violence and asylum harms.