Corcoran, Mary and Hamm, Robert and Weiner, Ruairí (2022) Blurring the distinction between the researcher and the researched: Doing Collective Memory-Work online in Covid times. Irish Journal of Sociology, 30 (2). pp. 136-158. ISSN 2050-5280

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Abstract

Collective-Memory Work (CMW) is a method of research and learning that relies on a group working together on a topic of shared interest. It aligns with other qualitative approaches such as participatory and feminist research methods, collaborative autoethnography, narrative inquiry, and emancipatory adult learning. In CMW participants write short stories from their own memory on a theme agreed in advance. The stories are subsequently scrutinized by the group via detailed textual analysis and recursive discussion. Due to COVID restrictions in 2020, a planned CMW workshop at an Irish higher education institution had to be delivered online. The purpose of this case study is two-fold: first it provides an overview of the CMW approach and how it is implemented in practice, detailing the concrete activities carried out in the workshop. Second, the case study provides insight into running a workshop of this kind online and the perceived benefits identified by participants of adopting such an approach. We argue that CMW generates an egalitarian group dynamic, encourages active listening, and enables the co-creation of textual analysis in a spirit of collectivity and mutual respect. We suggest that CMW is a versatile method that can be usefully deployed within and beyond academic settings.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Collective memory-work; online case study; methodology; skills development;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology
Item ID:	17079
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1177/07916035221077863
Depositing User:	Prof. Mary Corcoran
Date Deposited:	31 Mar 2023 13:38
Journal or Publication Title:	Irish Journal of Sociology
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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