self-society-writing
One of the ways I am doing my research is by writing about my own experiences of collective advocacy.
I have been around for a long time so I have memories and thoughts and experiences that are interesting in and of themselves. I am not going to ignore all this! So I am writing down what I can remember. Some of it is very scrappy but some of it is quite detailed.
As I write, I find myself asking questions about what happened, wondering about the gaps in my memories, and realising that I feel differently about somethings now than I did at the time. It's not autobiography - but autoethnography - writing about my experiences in their social and political context.
The photo below is from the first Oor Mad History book with a quote from me about smoking at collective advocacy meetings in the 1990s.
And the other thing I remember is the amount of smoking that went on and when rules were brought in that only two people at any one time could smoke or only the person who had the ashtray could smoke and people just staring at the ashtray waiting for it to become free.
A simple memory conjures up the physicality of being in a room full of people smoking and locates it in a time before anti-smoking policies had really taken hold. Smoking was a key part of being a mental patient at the time.
I've now written quite a bit and I find myself using these writings to explore some of the concepts I am studying. For example, I wrote about a meeting I attended with a powerful official. I then used it to explore concepts like epistemic injustice, candidacy and power.
- It won't be the only research method that I will use. I will
read policy documents from the Scottish Office/Executive/Government, the NHS and local authorities. - explore the Oor Mad History Archive to find out what collective advocacy groups have been saying and doing.
- and of course, talk with people - individuals and groups [1]
I think I will be better able to quieten my own opinion while reading/listening to others because I have it written down. At the same time I will be better able to understand and explore what others have said and done having thought about my own. I am interested in finding out where we all agree and where we don't and what questions come from that.
[1] I still trying to work out what that will be like - I am not sure simply interviewing people and writing up the notes and analysing them is a good idea for my research. I am thinking of something more conversational than the usual research interview or focus group can be. I have a few thoughts, any ideas welcome!
