Feminist Research into Gendered Violence Developing PhotoVOICE 2.0 in Zambia as a Participatory Arts-based Research Method
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Keywords
photvoice, participatory arts-based research, violence against women, violence against children, feminist methodologies, Zambia
Abstract
Researching violence, especially within homes, families or closed community spaces, is often challenging. PhotoVOICE 2.0 is an innovative technology-assisted adaptation of the participatory arts-based research (PABR) method, Photovoice. It was developed and piloted in 2018 by the authors to conduct research on the ways the Anglican Mothers’ Union in Zambia contributes to and/or resists violence against women and violence against children. This article discusses the methodological underpinnings and origins of this method and offers an overview of its implementation in Zambia. Several key insights emerge regarding how PhotoVOICE 2.0 enables feminist, participatory arts-based research, including that it empowers local community co-researchers and amplifies the voices of insiders to the specific institution being researched in ways that can support feminist research aims for social transformation. The technological component of the method centers PABR methods throughout the whole research process. The article concludes by emphasizing the extraordinary disruptive power of the PhotoVOICE 2.0 method in subverting existing hierarchies of knowledge and control and highlighting its continued evolution in new settings.
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Elisabet le Roux, Stellenbosch University
Dr Elisabet le Roux is Research Director of the interdisciplinary Unit for Religion and Development Research at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Her empirical research is internationally done with and for intergovernmental agencies, government departments, development networks, faith-based organisations, non-governmental organisations and research networks. She has to date conducted research projects in more than 20 countries across four continents, with a particular focus on violence against women and girls, gender equality, women’s participation and empowerment, and a critical lens on the important roles of religion and culture.
Selina H. Palm, Stellenbosch University
Dr Selina Palm is a feminist scholar-activist based at the interdisciplinary Unit for Religion and Development Research at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. She does empirical research and consults with governments, organisations and networks around the world to disrupt violence against women, children, and queer bodies and to support the practical realisation of human rights. She has expertise on critical engagement with religious and cultural frameworks in a range of diverse settings. Most of her current work takes place within the Global South with an emphasis on African settings.