Week 4 | Collaborative Inquiry: Positionality
7 February 2020
Film: Workers!
I don’t know much about Scottish society and policy, but in Chinese context I think decriminalising sex work is a last resort in a life where prostitution cannot be eradicated and I’m hesitant about the subject …… But obviously this course is not for me to discuss whether sex work should be decriminalised, so I will focus on the film. (However I understand that position may influence the formation and output of opinions.)
Find other ways that this working relationship is described
After watching the film and reading the ‘PRODUCTION DOSSIER’, I thought the film did a great job of co-creation. In the ‘PRODUCTION DOSSIER’ document, I saw artists and sex workers talking to each other, exchanging email to deepen the trust between them. And both parties bring each other closer together by recommending reading material, inviting to relevant meetings, etc., so that both can go deeper into the area they are exploring in different ways. I see the prep for the project as being the same as fieldwork in anthropology.
In ‘a conversation’, Gem also stated that she felt included in the research team during the project, rather than as the ‘other’ being studied. This proves that everyone is on an equal standing in the project, which is what cooperation is all about.
This film is anthropological?
I think the film itself is anthropological, I would call it a contemporary art project in the context of anthropology.
After reading ‘PRODUCTION DOSSIER’, I gained a better understanding of the project and the objectives of the film. I can see the producers of this project having a lot of discussions with sex workers about various issues of sex workers, which could be identified as fieldwork. The film as a project, it promotes the idea of SCOP-PEP. The film ‘Worker’ is a project that uses anthropology as a context and a tool to show the situation, so I think the film is anthropological.
It is a good production, it is a project that combines anthropology and contemporary art, the artist uses a lot of research, interviews to understand the field of sex workers and uses this to make a film, which is typical of fieldwork. At the same time the film is a project centred on Scottish sex workers and the project was initiated and supported by the Edinburgh-based organisation ‘Collective’, which exemplifies the interplay of both anthropology and artistic practice.
Good work on the dossier. Again, some images of the Dossier/the work would help make this more of a visual approach. Remember also to provide full references + a bibliography just as you would in an essay.