Workshop "Weaving Belonging: Unpacking Notions, Practices, and Power Dynamics"
Weaving Belonging: Unpacking Notions, Practices, and Power Dynamics
workshop with Giovana de Souza Possignolo at 16:00 on Wednesday, May 15
The proposed workshop aims to initiate a dialogue among participants concerning the multifaceted concept of belonging within the context of their research practices. It will elucidate examples of belonging while offering exercises to participants aimed at discerning the material manifestations of belonging within their own projects.
Belonging, as elucidated by hooks (2009), transcends mere physical presence, encompassing profound emotional and spiritual connections to specific places. It is intricately intertwined with power relations, social identities, and cultural practices, which shape collective belonging and influence individuals' decisions to either remain or displace. This workshop seeks to delve into these complex dynamics, fostering an understanding of belonging as a process intertwined with place, affect, and political struggles.
The workshop facilitator will share insights from her research experiences in peripheral territories predominantly inhabited by Indigenous, Black, and mixed-race communities in Brazil. These encounters have underscored the critical importance of examining the impact of social interactions on the construction of belonging, elucidating power relations within social dynamics, community formation, and the entanglement of local cultural narratives, particularly within predominantly white spaces and knowledge production (Ahmed, 2006; Kilomba, 2008). She advocates that belonging manifests on three levels: within a territory (or the absence of one through experiences of move and displacement), through feelings (affective relations that also translate power dynamics), and through discourses (delineating practices by a platform and content).
Through interactive discussions and practical exercises, participants will be encouraged to critically reflect on their own research projects, probing the ways in which belonging manifests within their respective fields of study. By fostering a dialogical understanding of belonging, this workshop aims to collect some tools necessary to navigate and elucidate this complex phenomenon within their research projects.
