Positionality, Expectations, and "Moments of Surprise" in a Photovoice Project in Malawi

• In Event: 61.079 - Who Are We Here? Interrogating Positionality in Participatory Arts-Based Research

Abstract

Positionality is increasingly understood as multiple, fluid and shifting (Alcoff, 1993). As a critical feminist researcher I believe in doing research (Mitchell, 2001). The data collection for this paper took place in the summer of 2013 in a rural area of Malawi, Africa. During this time, I conducted photovoice workshops with two groups of women about health issues in the context of HIV and AIDS. Photovoice was initially developed as a feminist collaborative strategy to create awareness, document and bring about social change and empower women (Wang and Burris, 1997; Wang, 1999). The method is influenced by Freireian (1973) dialogue exchanges that promote social change and participatory practice towards community-based action (Ledwith and Springett, 2010). In this paper, I explore how positionality can shift through dialogue, within the photovoice process.

In the paper, I reflect on my research practice particularly in relation to how Anthias (2001) sees positionality as blending “a reference to social position (as a set of effectivities, or as outcome) and social positioning (as a set of practices, actions and meanings: as process)” (p. 634). Often positionality emerges in unexpected ways, or through what I describe as ‘moments of surprise’ for both myself and the research participants. This paper explores the question: In what ways does positionality – considered both a position and the act of positioning – shift through ‘moments of surprise’? Taking up the idea of positionality through two particular moments, I assess how dialogue re-informed my thinking. The first moment occurred with a group of older women, between the ages of 50-80 years old, who often work together outside the research context (for example; rotating pig farming duties). When we were negotiating the informed consent form, our conversation exposed implicit assumptions embedded within photovoice research that I had not been previously aware of. The second moment relates to the exhibition process, when the group of younger women between the ages of 18-29 years negotiated the use of captions. It was during these ‘moments of surprise’ that I noticed my positionality shifting. At the beginning I felt like a novice and uncomfortable being ‘assigned’ an expert role by my participants. Throughout the process, however, I began to embrace my role as facilitator and co-leader. Through participatory research, visual methods, and dialogue, positioning can be explored and written into research towards social justice. Complicated through additional layers of visual representation in photovoice, the iterative back-and-forth between participants and researchers helps further develop a more critical and socially just knowledge production process.

Author

• Barbara Hunting, Bishop's University