MC-DIP

The underlying rationale for the research is based on conducting participatory research that is routed in social change specific to marginalized groups. The research is also influenced and in part shaped in the methodological perspective by the following quote by Martin Luther King:

“We do not ask you to march by our side. Although, as citizens, you are free and welcome to do so. Rather, we ask you to focus on the fresh social issues of our day. To move from observing operant learning …. to the test tubes of Watts, Harlem, Selma, and Bogalusa. We ask you to make society’s problems your laboratory. We ask you to translate your data into direction-direction for action” (King Jr, 1966)

ARC research adopts a performance ethnography approach and associated criteria based on a multiracial cultural studies perspective (Denzin 2002, Diawara, 1996). Such an approach is less certain than other more established interpretive enquiry methods (Denzin, 2003) but at the same time is natural to the ARC enquiry context. From a feminist, communitarian sense, there are various approaches to performance ethnography. For our study the ideologies and ‘world views’ are quite polarized from the drivers of many performance ethnographers but we share the need for performance ethnography in terms of criteria and techniques. Denzin (2003) and Stegner (1990) eloquently described the rationale and methodological perspective adopted for this research project.

"I seek an interpretive social science that is simultaneously autoethnographic, vulnerable, performative, and critical. This is a social science that refuses abstractions and high theory…………viewing culture as a complex performative process, it seeks to understand how people enact and construct meaning in their daily …….. free of prejudice, repression, and discrimination." (Denzin, 2003).

"I seek a writing form that is part memoir, part essay, part autoethnography... I write from scenes of memory, re-arranging, suppressing, even inventing scenes, forgoing claims to exact truth or factual accuracy, search instead for emotional truth, for deep meaning." (Stegner, 1990).

It is important to illustrate further the performances perspective and the idea of performances in public and democratic spaces that has informed this study in method and style. ARC adopted autoethnographic theatre perspective that we adapted for artistic expression. Issues of people coming together, through digital communities of practice, to participate in shared and reflexive performances. For the researchers performances involve co-participation in an interpretive process. Using the above theatre analogy scripts can be considered in context of pedagogic performance art narratives. The idea of edited experiences and often formed from group experiences were embraced. This has been used in exploring identities of refugee and migrants and in stitching together many dimensions and elements of culture through informal learning activities. Performance ethnography is a way to illustrate meaning and understanding about learning experiences in the context of personal identity (Pelias, 1999). Clearly challenging to achieve but natural for a multicultural education approach driven by pedagogy routed in anti-discriminatory practice.

Christian (2000) identifies three interconnected criteria that shape these representations of the world and in the context of this research into informal multicultural education in enabling identity expression through visual arts. These three criteria provide the guiding principles for the ARC research. 1) Interpretive sufficiency – the voices of visual artists need to provide depth, detail, emotionality and critical consciousness through the researchers being part of the collective. This enabled an immersive perspective into the role of informal multicultural education in the context of social movement of people and implications to identity through interpretive enquiry methods. Working together in a co-production process (informal multicultural education) culminating in visual arts acting as ‘voices’ for refugees and migrants. Paula Freire (2001) says conscientization to be formed - the marginalized gain their own expressive voices and collaborate in transforming their own identities. 2) Representational adequacy – the diversity of what became a loose ARC community of practice ensured a no tolerance approach to discrimination and stereotyping such as by racial, class, gender, religious issues and many more issues of importance. 3) Authentically Adequate - in terms of text and visual arts the research was influenced by Christian (2000) by meeting three conditions: (a) multiple voices are represented by exploring the Sonia Neito ‘undergrid’ to multicultural education as a framework for interpreting visual art and associated collaborations (b) deal with morality by challenging, through visual art, stereotype views in our communities and society of refugees and migrants (c) promote the changing of social perspective through creative expression. The performance ethnographic perspective embraced visual art and co-production with marginalized groups to provide a multi-voice that is hoped to empower persons, and discover identity implications (in some way).

We also engaged in the research design by ideas of Lincoln (1995) on authentic adequacy in that the research should: (1) reflect the researchers personality (criterion of positionality) in words and visual expression; (2) being able to address issues of the refugee community and promote there voice was core to the research in how it was conducted (community); (3) engage the non engaged in the context of asylum seekers and migrants who are often silenced through giving a voice (voice); (4) the researchers explore their interpretation of the situation, during, before, and after the research experience through exploring the Sonia Neito ‘undergrid’ framework (critical subjectivity); and (5) ARC was routed in forming a loose collective of equal stakeholders and this facilitated openness between researchers, educators and learners by performance ethnography not allowing such a divide to be recognised (reciprocity). ARC realized the conceptualised performance ethnography potential in the context of civic, participatory, and collaborative initiative. It creates a situation of co-participation and co-production in a common exploratory project specific to facilitating, through visual arts, a means for identity expression and facilitated by informal multicultural education practice. This performance ethnography research project clearly pulls from various perspectives including: feminist approach to ethnography, traditional ‘eastern theology’ on epistemology, and neo-Marxist approaches to community development.

Autoethnographic texts that deal with the following: 1) Unsettle, critise, and challenge taken for granted, repressed meanings 2) Invite moral and ethical dialogue while reflexively clarifying their own moral positions 3) Engender resistance and offer utopian thoughts about how things can be made different 4) Demonstrate that they are in touch and want to enable social change 5) Show instead of tell, using the principle that less is more 6) Exhibit interpretive sufficiency, representational adequacy, and authentic adequacy 7) Present political, functional collective, spiritual, committed viewpoints) (Adapted from Denzin - Performance Ethnography)

The words for the petition is:

The principle of `work for those who can, support for those who can't' should extend to everyone in the UK, including people seeking asylum; notes that thousands of people seeking asylum are ending up destitute rather than returning to poverty and/or persecution; supports Church Action on Poverty's Living Ghosts campaign, which aims to end the needless destitution of people seeking asylum; believes that it is in the interest of the whole of UK society for people seeking asylum to be allowed to take paid employment while they are in this country or NASS support if the are unable to work; and recognises that this would stop many people disappearing into destitution.

The online petition is on the official Downing st website so is actually legitimate. For more please go to:

Many other petitions also worth checking out in support of the right to asylum....

Ofiicial Downing St Petition

Iraqi oil industry was nationalised in the early 1970's but the Iraqi parliament is on the verge of reversing this by passing new legislation to restructure. What is being proposed effectively hands over control to multinational oprganisations. This would I guess lead to destructive competition for oil production. Legally the oil will remain the "property of the nation". But the implications will be that "exploration and production contracts" will give exclusive rights to search for and pump out oil in specific areas. Most of the middle east have nationalised oil and reflects the importance to there economic develop... If pushed through Iraqi parliament it seems to be sucking a country of its key resource.

Autoethnographic Theatre. The theatre edge routed in post-modern that is problematic for me as an outlook but even so here are some useful words to think about. Democractic performances and the idea of performances in public and democratic spaces. For autoethnographic theatre general view point is around safe sacred aesthetic places. Issues of people coming together to particpate in shared and reflexive performances. For me the idea of common ground for research and the democracy element is useful to consider..

Performances involve coparticipation in an interpretive process. Using the above theatre analogy scripts can be considered in context of pedagogic performance narratives. The idea of edited experiences and often from personal and group experiences. This may result in composite characters - this may be through stitching together many fabrics of culture and activities.

The routes of autoethnographic performance is an interpretive event. A way tp project meaning and understanding about situations and experiences (Pelias, 1999). The idea is the performativity (being) brings performance narrative alive. Clearly challenging to achieve but natural for a multicultural education approach driven by a pedagogy routed in anti-discriminatory practice.

A wide range of personal performance narratives are can be identified. A personal experience story is a narrative relating the self of the teller to personal experiences that have occurred and from the past (Denzin, 2001). A self story is a narrative takes a structure of experiences and creates a story that is based on past, present and future simultaneously. And this is a autobiographical discourse approach. Alexander (2000) calls this generative autobiographical performance.  These three types often merge and support each other...

"I seek an interpretive social science that is simultaneously autoethnographic, vulnerable, performative, and critical. This is a social science that refuses abstractions and high theory. It is a way of being in the world, away of writing, hearing, and listening. Viewing culture as a complex performative process, it seeksto understand how people enact and construct meaning in their daily lives. This is a return to narrative as a political act, a social science that has learned how to use the reflexive, dialogic interview. This social science inserts itself into the world in a an empowering way. It uses the words and stories that individuals tell to fashion performance texts that imagine new worlds, worlds where humans can become who they wish to be, free of prejudice, repression, and discrimination." (Denzin, 2003).

"I seek a writing form that is part memoir, part essay, part autoethnography... I write from scenes of memory, re-arrangeing, suppressing, even inventing scenes, forgoing claims to exact truth or factual accuracy, search instead for emotional truth, for deep meaning." (Stegner, 1990)

"boundaries of creative non-fiction ...... which will always be as fluid as water". (Blew, 1999)

As outlined in the previous post performance ethnography and the drive for an autobiographical element is associated by Chistrians, 2000) with 3 criteria: Interpretive sufficiency, representational adequacy, and authentic adequacy. Just need to extend further on the latter.

Lincoln (1995) proposes that we should ask if research work in this area: (1) reflects the authors personality (criterion of positionality)  in words; (2) addresses the community in which the research was conducted with (community); (3) engages with the marginalised and/or silenced through giving a voice (voice); (4) explores the author's interpretation of the situation, during, before, and after the research experience (critical subjectivity); and (5) demonstrates openness between researchers and participants (reciprocity).

If appropriately conceptualised performance ethnography has the potential to be a civic, participatory, collaborative project. It creates a situation of coparticipation in a common research and development project. In loose terms you could also say this is a form of particpatory action research. performance ethnography clearly pulls from various perspectives including: feminist approach to ethnography, traditional eastern theology on epistomology, and neo-Marxist approaches to community development and post modern relative views. The feminist and post modern are the main  influences of this type of qualitative research and seem to dominate research methodology thinking and Denzin along with many others reflect this push.

Performance ethnography I have been exploring is based on a multiracial cultural studies perspective (Diawara, 1996). A relativley new postinterpretive, post foundational paradigm is emerging that is less certain in terms of an interpretive enquiry approach (Denzin, 2003). The ways in which these relationships of difference and commonality are textually represented answer to a political annd epistimological aesthetic. From a feminist, communitarian sense, there are various approaches to performance ethnography.

Christian (2000) identifies three interconnected criteria that shape these representations of the world. Interpretive sufficiency - descriptions should possess the amount of depth, detail, emotionality, nuance, and coherence that will permit a critical consciousness. Paula Freire (2001) says conscientization to be formed - the oppressed gain there own voices and collaborate in transforming there own cultures. Representational adequacy - dealing with being free of racial, class or gender stereotyping issues. Authentically Adequate - in terms of text and according to Christian when they meet three conditions. (a) multiple voices are represented, (b) enhance morality in some way, (c) promote social transformation.

Multivoice ethnographic texts should empower persons, discover moral truths about themselves (in some way), and create social criticism.

Interesting viewpoint led by a narrative enquiry perspective and from Denzin what he calls postmodern/poststructural perspective. Talks about quantitative, positive research methods and assumptions and how many researcher have rejected this approach. They argue that positive methods are telling stories about the soical world but just in a different way to qualitative methods. A science that silences too many voices. narrative approach just chooses different methods for evaluating there work including: verisimililitude, emotionality, personal responsibility, ethic of caring, political praxis, mulivoice texts, and dialogues with subjects.

Here is a useful quote from someone who has significant influence on my thoughts in the context of bilingual education - Professor Jim Cummins.

"Nowhere in this anaemic instructiuonal vision is there room for really connecting at a human level with culturally diverse students. When we frame the universe of discourse only in terms of children's deficit in English and in phonological awareness (or deficits in any other area), we expel culture, language, identity, intellect, and imagination from our image of the child. In contrast .... an instructional focus on empowerment, understood as the collaborative creation of power, starts by acknowledging the culture, linguistic, imaginative, and intellectual resources that children bring to the school"

United Kingdom - controversy around the niqab (or face veil) Jack Straw (MP) called this 'a barrier to integration'. This has been taken and agreed with by many politicians including Tony Blair. Many women in communities feel under seige and it opens the doors to the racists on the streets of the UK. Such comments has been the most significant event that has damaged community cohesion since the race riots of 2001. A recent survey commissioned by the Home Office and conducted by University of Central Lancashire has found black and asian overall more tolerant to cultural diversity than whites in the northen towns researched. The recent comments seemed to illustrate a similar situation at a state level. So there is a move from ASBOS, to banning 'hoodies' to not 'veils'!? Netherlands - a parliamentary movement to ban burkas (full length garments) but was rejected by government last year. Since 2003 many schools have banned headscarves and this is permitted for specific reasons. So where is the free society when it comes to religious tolerance. Belgium - earlier this year 2 teachers were sacked for wearing the hijab (scalf). The reason was for not complying with 'religious neutrality'. In 2005 a factory boss/manager got death threats for allowing a worker to wear a hijab. In Antwerp an old law was invoked about not being allowed to wear masks.. Austria - minister Liese Prokop proposed to ban teachers from wearing hijabs. Later he did not pursue this any further. France Banned 'conspicuous' religious symbols in schools and this has clearly contributed to opinion across Europe. The impact of this is demonstrated to be far greater for Muslims that say Christians or Jews. Germany - 7 or 16 federal states banned the hijabs in schools. Baden-Wittemberg said it would question Muslim immigrants on women's rights and 9/11. Denmark - In 2005 a supreme court ruled a supermarket chain could fire a cashier wearing a veil (scalf). Italy - There have been attempts to revive Musolini-era laws against wearing masks. Minister Letizia Moratti ruled out any ban on hijabs in schools. Switzerland - a court ruling in 1997 banned the hijab for teachers. Turkey - Laws state religious clothing should not be worn outside times of worship. For example a cause of friction is that women wearing headscarf are not allowed to register as university students or enter campuses. The so called secular state of Turkey began under Kemal Ataturk

The decision to declare 2008 the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue sounds excellent focus. focus is on: * The promotion of cultural diversity in Europe and in the world * A fundamental component of active European citizenship * Ameans to promote flexibility and adaptation to the changes in humanresources brought about by the success of the Lisbon strategy * A solidarity dimension at the service of social cohesion * An element of credibility in policies towards neighbouring countries and external relations in general The Yearis intended to highlight and raise awareness through activities of the cultural industries and beyond. As the DG states the success and impact of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue in 2008 will depend on the active involvement of civil society and implementation at the grassroots level. And yes this is essential to ensure that it becomes a long-lasting and durable process extending beyond 2008.

I have enjoyed following these interviews and lots and interesting and important comments in the madness. It reminds me of a performance way back by Vivian Stanshall - some similarities lurking.... I appreciate Graham has been exploring storytelling and eLearning and great to see the direction it has gone. Hope it continues ....

I have been intending to post my view in the recent media coverage of the wearing of the veil but time pasted... I struggle with the logic and Jack Straw (MP) should be far more aware of the situation (he is loosing the Asiam vote due to the war on Iraq/Afganistan and no voice on Lebanon so why kick even harder). The response seemed calculated from the Labour government and I guess to some extent well discussed way before the public comments from Jack Straw. Such comments increase the atmosphere of Islamaphobia and anti-Muslim racism in the country. The follow up in the context of wider issues of citizenship also has the potential of moving the country towards models being pushed in other European countries and away from what is still a more pluralist rather than secular approach here in the UK. In England we now see the situation of the Liverpool woman having a veil ripped off, woman suspended from working in a school for wearing a veil and racist attacks near many Mosques. I thought we had open views in the UK and legislation that is intended to protect from religious prejudice and the Race Relations Act. We should keep with the Multiculturalism and celebrate the diversity that it has enabled through positive anti-discriminatory action.... Northen towns such as Blackburn have no problems in community relations but have significant economic deprivation. This is the challenge not what people are wearing and the comments from many leading people in the Labour party are intrusive and discrimatory in attitude. For many women the veil is a sign of liberty and in the UK many more women have decided to wear the veil since the war on Iraq. For many more its part of there identity and a choice. In Europe typically it is a choice and a sign for many of controlling there own way of doing things. For others it is a central part of being a Muslim.. In other words for many women it is central to what they are and a choice in a free society that has no impact on others.....