http://hdl.handle.net/10453/19751 2013-05-19T01:01:00Z 2013-05-19T01:01:00Z Farrar, Patricia http://hdl.handle.net/10453/19754 2012-12-15T02:48:50Z 2007-08-06T01:40:00Z

Too Painful to Remember: Memory-Work as a Method to Explore Sensitive Research Topics Farrar, Patricia Qualitative researchers, by the very nature of their endeavours, are likely to undertake projects which involve exploration into the intimate crevices of people’s lives. Feminist research further plumbs the depths of such exploration into the lives and experiences of women. Frequently such research will involve topics considered to be of a sensitive nature because of the threats that they pose to the research participants’ emotional, spiritual and psychic integrity. Whereas one of the basic tenets of feminist research is that the participants should not be exposed to harm, it should follow that a feminist research method such as memory-work must not be deleterious. While the focus of this paper is a discussion of some of the issues which I uncovered during the use of memory-work into the social construction of women’s sexuality in the 1960s, I also refer to issues which arose during my initial attempt to use memory-work as part of a larger project which investigated the meaning of losing a baby to adoption (Farrar, 2000).

2007-08-06T01:40:00Z Stephenson, Niamh http://hdl.handle.net/10453/19753 2012-12-15T02:48:50Z 2007-08-06T01:36:56Z

If Parties Are Battles, What Are We? Practising Collectivity in Memory Work Stephenson, Niamh Memory-work was original devised by Haug and others (1987) who explained the method to an English speaking audience in Female Sexualization: A collective work of memory. In this paper, I consider the rationale for and the explanation of the “collective subject” in memory-work. Undertaking memory-work can involve a tension between exploring and eliding difference in the group. However, the implications of Haug’s particular understanding of collective subjectivity are an overemphasis on identifying commonalties between group members’ positions and ideas, at the expense of interrogating difference. Adopting Haug’s approach to collective subjectivity entails the risk that persistent divisions between people will be understood in terms of individual ignorance or personal instabilities. I propose an anti-foundational understanding of collective subjectivity (Butler, 1992). This doesn’t mean negating the importance of collectivity. Neither does it mean assuming that it will emerge, nor explaining its absence in terms of the group’s or an individual’s failure. Rather, an anti-foundationalist approach involves questioning the emergence of collective subjectivity. I conclude by reflecting on the implications of my discussion of collective subjectivity for analysing the discussions produced in memory-work.

2007-08-06T01:36:56Z Small, Jennie. http://hdl.handle.net/10453/19758 2012-12-15T02:48:51Z 2007-08-06T01:33:28Z

Memory-Work: An Introduction Small, Jennie.

2007-08-06T01:33:28Z Mitchell, Patricia. Rocco, Sharn. Gannon, Susanne. Onyx, Jenny. McCormack, Coralie. Koutroulis, Glenda. Ingleton, Christine. O'Regan, Kerry. Small, Jennie. Cadman, Kate. Friend, Lorraine. http://hdl.handle.net/10453/19757 2012-12-15T02:48:51Z 2007-08-06T01:31:20Z

Memory-Workers Doing Memory-Work on Memory-Work: Exploring Unresolved Power Mitchell, Patricia.; Rocco, Sharn.; Gannon, Susanne.; Onyx, Jenny.; McCormack, Coralie.; Koutroulis, Glenda.; Ingleton, Christine.; O'Regan, Kerry.; Small, Jennie.; Cadman, Kate.; Friend, Lorraine. The use of memory-work as a qualitative method in feminist social research is well established in Australia and New Zealand. Memory-work, though, still brings with it many theoretical and methodological dilemmas and issues. To open some of these issues to collective discussion, a group of experienced feminist researchers used the process of memory-work to explore specific experiences of working with memory-work groups. Our exploration suggested that using memory-work within the dominant positivist discourses and patriarchal structures of academia could, at times, leave feminist researchers feeling powerless. Through this collective we expressed concern about method and methodological process in ways which had not been articulated through our earlier memory-work projects.

2007-08-06T01:31:20Z