Participatory Visual Methodologies: Social Change, Community and Policy

This book demonstrates how data from participatory visual methods can take people and communities beyond ideological engagement, initiating new conversations and changing perspectives, policy debates, and policy development. These methods include, for example, photo-voice, participatory video, drawing/mapping, and digital storytelling. Organised around a series of tools that have been used across health, education, environmental, and sociological research, Participatory Visual Methodologies illustrates how to maintain participant engagement in decision-making, navigate critical issues around ethics, track policies, and maximize the potential of longitudinal studies. Tools discussed include: Pedagogical screenings Digital dialogue devices Upcycling and ‘speaking back’ interventions Participant-led policy briefs An authoritative and accessible guide to how participatory visual methods and arts-based methods can influence social change, this book will help any postgraduate researcher looking to contribute to policy dialogue.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Introduction: A Framework for Social Change through Participatory Visual Research Introduction Policy, Policy, Policy Community and Policy Dialogue Critical Audience Engagement Overview of the Book Key Points of the Chapter Chapter 2: Project Design: Beginning with the End in Mind Introduction Research Design for Social Change Participatory Visual Methods A Case Study: Addressing Campus-based Sexual Violence Conclusion Key Points of the Chapter Chapter 3: Speaking Back as Method Introduction Defining Speaking Back On Using Speaking Back as Method Features of Speaking Back as Method Conclusion Key Points of the Chapter Chapter 4: Pictures at an Exhibition Introduction Community-Based Exhibitions Processes in Curating Studying Exhibiting One Set of Photos, Multiple Showings Method: Studying Audience Engagement Studying Audiences through Exhibiting Exhibition Catalogues Creating an Exhibition Catalogue Drawings: Collections and Catalogues Conclusion Key Points of the Chapter Chapter 5: The Pedagogy of Screenings Introduction Why a Pedagogy of Screenings? Methodologies for Screening Researchers Screening their Own Productions Researchers Screening Videos Made by Participants Participants Screening their Own Work Online Platforms and Screening Discussion Conclusion Key Points of the Chapter Chapter 6: Digital Artefacts: Researcher-Led Tools for Dialogue Introduction Research-Produced Digital Artefacts: A Brief History Research-Produced Digital Dialogue Tools: Three Cases A Co-Production: Researchers and Teachers Working Together on a ‘Re-mix’ Video Digital Artefacts: Issues to Consider Researcher Reflexivity/Discussion Conclusion Key Points of the Chapter Chapter 7: Engaging Policy Makers Introduction Participant-led Tools for Engaging Policy makers Taking Research to Policymakers Using Participatory Video to Engage Policy Makers Studying Pathways to Impact Conclusion Key Points of the Chapter Chapter 8: What Difference Does This Make? Introduction Theories of Change Tracking Change Interpretive and Ethnographic Approaches Conclusion Key Points of the Chapter

About the Author :
Claudia Mitchell is a James McGill Professor in the Faculty of Education, McGill University where she is the Director of the McGill Institute for Human Development and Well-being and the founder and Director of the Participatory Cultures Lab. She is  an Honorary Professor in the School of Education, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. She was the 2016 recipient of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Gold Medal awarded for the impact of her research which  cuts across a number of areas including girlhood studies, youth, sexuality, and HIV and AIDS, gender violence, and teacher identity, and in a number of countries including Canada, South Africa, Russia, Ethiopia, and Kenya . As a methodologist she is particularly interested in participatory visual research, memory work and material culture, and autoethnography. Naydene de Lange is Emeritus Professor in the Faculty of Education at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. She previously held the HIV and AIDS Education Research Chair in the Faculty of Education at the same university. Her research focuses on using participatory visual methodologies in addressing gender and HIV&AIDS issues, and integrating HIV&AIDS into Higher Education curricula.   Relebohile Moletsane is Professor and the John Langalibalele Dube Chair in Rural Education in the School of Education, University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa. Her areas of research include curriculum studies, rural education, gender and education, sexual and reproductive health education, girlhood studies and girls education in Southern African contexts. She is the Co-PI (with Claudia Mitchell, McGill University) on the Networks for Change and Wellbeing project (Networks for Change and Well-being (www.networks4change.co.za/). The project uses participatory visual methodologies, including photo-voice, participatory video (cellphilm), digital storytelling and drawing to address sexual violence with girls in rural KwaZulu-Natal.  

Review :
This powerful book brings together rich insights from participatory visual studies, reflexivity, and audience studies--a must for anyone wishing to engage in meaningful participatory research. A vital resource for researchers and practitioners working across disciplines. This book is simultaneously a valuable synthesis of existing knowledge in the area and an important building block for the continued development of this field of inquiry. The book presents an invaluable resource for researchers using visual methods. It expands the field of participatory visual methods by providing a critical and rich perspective on its potential to impact policy-making processes. With over a decade of experience of working together in this field the authors are uniquely placed to make this contribution, as they critically engage in issues of power, ethics and representation.