Abstracts
Abstract
This polyvocal text is both a narrative and a dialogue between two scholar-activist researchers working in rural communities in distinct parts of the world — South Africa and Southern Mexico — sharing their experiences of using cellular phone and camcorders, while also exploring the potential sustainability of these technologies in the context of rural communities engaging with participatory video projects. These communities are not only playing an increasingly salient role as the mediators of this technology, but through their practices they are drawing much needed attention to the ways in which the researcher — participant dynamic in participatory video practices can be transformed into a more autonomous and participant-led set of practices. The article considers the ways these media forms carry the potential to imagine and honour different worldviews.
Résumé
Ce texte plurivoque est à la fois un récit et un dialogue entre deux chercheurs universitaires activistes oeuvrant au sein de communautés rurales situées dans deux parties distinctes du monde — l’Afrique du Sud et le sud du Mexique. Ils partagent leur expérience d’utilisateurs de téléphones cellulaires et de caméscopes, tout en explorant le potentiel de viabilité de ces technologies dans le contexte de communautés rurales engagées dans la réalisation de projets de vidéos participatifs. Non seulement ces communautés jouent-elles un rôle de plus en plus important comme médiateurs de ces technologies, mais elles attirent par leurs pratiques une attention indispensable sur les manières dont la dynamique existant entre chercheurs et participants dans des pratiques de vidéos participatifs peut être transformée par des règles plus autonomes et établies par les participants. Cet article s’intéresse aux manières dont ces médias ont le potentiel de représenter et mettre en valeur diverses visions du monde.
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Appendices
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for their financial support. We would also like to acknowledge Naydene de Lange and Relebohile Moletsane for their participation in the Digital Voices project.
Biographical notes
JOSHUA SCHWAB-CARTAS is currently completing a PhD in the Faculty of Education at McGill University. He holds a Master’s in Art History from the University of British Columbia and has co-directed, directed, and produced five short documentaries focusing on various aspects of Zapotec community life. His doctoral research explores Indigenous language revitalization strategies through community-based video with Diidxazá (Zapotec) speakers.
CLAUDIA MITCHELL is a James McGill Professor in the Faculty of Education, McGill University and an Honorary Professor in the School of Education, University of KwaZulu-Natal. Her research cuts across several areas including visual and other participatory methodologies in relation to working with youth to address gender and sexuality, girlhood, teacher identity, and critical areas of international development linked to gender and HIV and AIDS. She is the co-founder and editor of Girlhood Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal.
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Appendices
Notes biographiques
JOSHUA SCHWAB-CARTAS termine présentement un doctorat à l’Université McGill, au sein de la faculté des sciences de l’éducation. Il détient une maîtrise en histoire de l’art de l’University of British Columbia et a coréalisé, réalisé et produit cinq courts documentaires portant sur des dimensions variées de la communauté Zapotec. Son projet de recherche de doctorat explore les stratégies de revitalisation des langues indigènes par des vidéos réalisés avec des intervenants Diidxazá (Zapotec) au sein de leur communauté.
CLAUDIA MITCHELL est professeur James McGill et travaille au sein de la Faculté des sciences de l’éducation de l’Université McGill. Elle est aussi professeur honoraire à la Faculté d’éducation de l’University of KwaZulu-Natal. Ses recherches couvrent un éventail de champs d’intérêts incluant les méthodologies visuelles et les autres types de méthodologies participatives en lien avec le travail auprès des jeunes pour discuter de genre et de sexualité, de l’enfance chez les filles et d’identité enseignante. Elle s’intéresse également aux domaines critiques du développement international en lien avec le genre et le VIH / SIDA. Elle est la co-fondatrice et la rédactrice de la revue Girlhood Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal.