The representation of SSE in Comics and Graphic Novels. New tools to engage “hard-to-reach” target groups.

• In Event: How Individuals Learn to Engage

Abstract

The relationship between social sciences and comics boasts a long tradition, especially in the USA, starting from the second post-war period (see the pioneering works of Zorbaugh, H.W). In Europe, the first systematic studies appear in France in the context of analysis of mass culture or popular culture (Boltanski, L. 1975; Bourdieu, P. 1975). Studies and reflections on the social role of comics have a strong development starting from the new millennium in relation to the diffusion of graphic novels (Barberis, E., Grüning, B. 2021).
The present research intends to analyze the use of comics and graphic novels by social and solidarity economy organizations, in particular in three areas: a) as a tool for carrying out information and awareness campaigns towards hard-to-reach audiences (young, teen -agers, ethnic and religious minorities, etc.); b) as a tool for communicating their activities, including for fund-raising purposes; c) as a training tool for SSE managers or as part of educational projects in schools (Moretti V. and Scavarda A. 2021).
The use of comics to carry out these three functions, advocacy, social communication (fund-raising) and education/training, is known especially in the context of NGOs involved in the international development cooperation sector (see the publications of Médecins sans frontières 1988, 1991, 1994).
From a methodological point of view, the study is based on the analysis of some case studies of NGOs that use comics as a tool for communication and raising awareness among citizens (on topics such as: social justice, inequalities, racism, gender discrimination, etc.).
The basic idea is to analyze whether and to what extent comics can be a useful tool for reaching audiences that are usually not particularly sensitive to the activities and values of SSE organisations.
Given that comics use a universal iconic language that transcends national linguistic affiliations, the hypothesis is that they allow to overcome territorial, ethnic and cultural borders in view of the construction of a global civil society.

References

Barberis, E., Grüning, B. (2021) Doing Social Sciences Via Comics and Graphic Novels. An Introduction, in «Sociologica», 15, 1, pp. 125-42.
Boltanski, L. (1975). La constitution du champ de la bande dessinée. Actes de la Recherche en sciences sociales, 1(1), 37–59.
Bourdieu, P. (1975). La lecture de Marx ou quelques remarques critiques à propos de “Quelques remarques critiques à propos de ’Lire le capital”’. Actes de la Recherche en sciences sociales, 1(5–6), 65–79.
Médecins sans frontières (1988), T1 - Mission en Afrique, Edition Bayard Presse Collection L'aventure d'Okapi.
Médecins sans frontières (1991), T2 - Mission en Thaïlande, Edition Bayard Presse Collection L'aventure d'Okapi.
Médecins sans frontières (1994), T3 - Mission au Guatemala, Edition Bayard Presse Collection L'aventure d'Okapi.
Moretti V. e Scavarda A. (2021), Graphic Medicine. Una disciplina in cerca di autore, in “Rassegna Italiana di Sociologia”, Fascicolo 3, luglio-settembre 2021, p. 733-754.
Zorbaugh, H.W. (1944). The Comics. There they stand!. The Journal of Educational Sociology, 18(4), 196–203. https://doi.org/10.2307/2262692
Zorbaugh, H.W. (1949). What Adults Think of Comics as Reading for Children. The Journal of Educational Sociology, 23(4), 225–235. https://doi.org/10.2307/2264558

Author

• Andrea Bassi, Università di Bologna