Making Research and Building Knowledge with Communities: Examining Three Participatory Visual and Narrative Projects with Migrants Who Sell Sex in South Africa

Oliveira E., and Vearey J. (2018) Making Research and Building Knowledge with Communities: Examining Three Participatory Visual and Narrative Projects with Migrants Who Sell Sex in South Africa. In: Capous-Desyllas M., Morgaine K. (eds) Creating Social Change Through Creativity. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. [DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52129-9_15]

Abstract:
Sex work is an important livelihood activity for many people in the world yet the bulk of literature on this subject is often the result of research that is under-taken on rather than with individuals who are engaged in the sex industry. In this chapter, we present and discuss three linked research projects conducted in partnership with Sisonke: the national sex worker movement in South Africa. These projects (initiated in 2010) have experimented with different ways of co-producing and sharing knowledge through participatory arts-based and narrative methods. We describe the evolution of these projects, and discuss how the involved research methods developed, including public engagement approaches that offer both opportunities and risks to participants and knowledge production processes.

About Elsa Oliveira

Elsa Oliveira is a postdoctoral researcher at the African Centre for Migration and Society (ACMS), Wits University, where she is also the co-coordinator of the MoVE (methods:visual:explore) project.

Since 2010, Elsa has been involved in a wide range of participatory arts-based projects with diverse migrant populations in rural and urban areas of South Africa. She has a PhD in Migration and Displacement and is interested in the areas of gender, migration, sexualities, wellbeing, and informal livelihood strategies.

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