Unlearning Everyday Racism (and sexism) in Italy. a Photovoice Research with Young People

The first part of my paper introduces the theoretical framework (a dialogue between Post/de-colonial sociology, Critical Race Theory and Visual Studies) and offers a reflexive account of a participatory visual research with young people from the North East of Italy. They were invited to take pictures on three themes: “Self-portraits of a new generation”; “People/places in the city I live in that make me feel (in)secure”; “Feeling a citizen, feeling a foreigner”. Thanks to phovoice method, children of migrants claimed citizenship through images and challenged everyday racism/sexism lived in their cities (Padova and Verona) and in their schools (two technical upper secondary school, one vocational school and two scientific lyceums).

The second part of my paper is devoted to discuss methodological issues. Drawing from critical reflections on the limits of participatory visual research (Luttrell and Chalfen 2010; Guillemin and Drew 2010), I will propose to “unpack photovoice” in three methods (subjective image making; serial focus groups with photo-elicitation; participant observation, for understanding the audience’s reception of the research visual representations). The paper will thus underline the relevance of focus groups with photo-elicitation for negotiating Otherness, questioning the whiteness of Italians and offering a transformative safe space for racialized young people