Abstract:
Memory-work is a social constructionist and feminist research method that was developed
in Germany by Frigga Haug and others explicitly to bridge the gap between theory
and experience. It provides a way of exploring the process whereby individual women
become part of society, and the ways in which women themselves participate in that process
of socialization. It is a group method, involving always the collective analysis of
individual written memories. It isfeminist in being explicitly liberationist in its intent.
The use of memory-work as a method in feminist social research has become well established
in Australia and New Zealand. Increasingly, its use as a qualitative research
method has come to challenge conventional mainstream research practices. However, for
feminist researchers too, the method brings with it many fascinating dilemmas and
issues of both a theoretical and methodological nature. This article identifies some of
those issues.
