Migrant Women Learning & Teaching through Participatory Photography

Year of Publication: 2018

Author: Susan Brigham, Catherine Baillie-Abidi, Sylvia Calatayud

Publication Source: "Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education/ La revue canadienne pour l’étude de l’éducation des adultes"

Journal Volume/Issue: Vol. 30 No. 2

Category: ,

DOI: https://cjsae.library.dal.ca/index.php/cjsae/article/view/5433

Language: English

International migration continues to rise at unprecedented rates, rates exceeding the growth of the world’s population (UN, 2015). This vast movement of people influences social, economic and political systems in complex ways, including interpersonal and international gender relations. In this article, we discuss two studies that involved participatory photography with women in Nova Scotia who recently immigrated to Canada: Refugees Learning and Storytelling through Participatory Photography (2013-15) and Refugees/ immigrants and refugee claimants: Negotiating place and perceptions (2015-17). Using a feminist theoretical perspective, we examined the participants’ photographs and transcripts of meetings to identify the women’s learning processes. We conclude with our reflections on the impact that these arts-based projects had on participants and the wider community, namely that participatory photography can enhance our collective understanding of migration, including the gendered realities of migration.