Participatory video and diagramming with disabled people in Burkina Faso

Abstract

Disability research has made vast progress since Oliver’s (1992) call for it to challenge disabled people’s oppression. In Global South contexts such as Burkina Faso–where the research on which this paper is based was facilitated by the author–participatory diagramming and video are useful in creating spaces where disabled people can be heard. Nonetheless, these voices do not necessarily represent those of all disabled people. This paper tackles critiques of participatory methods, issues of representation, as well as power and positionality concerns arising from the involvement of western, non-disabled researchers. It ‘concludes’ that while participatory research might respond to the need for ethical research methods exploring disability in Global South contexts, the importance of reflexivity and of striving towards enabling and supporting research whose agenda is set by disabled persons from the Global South, should be at the fore. Points of Interest For the most part, research on disability and the lives of disabled persons takes place in Europe, North America and other similar contexts, and does not take into account the experiences of persons with disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa. Research which involves participants as researchers themselves aims to support disabled persons in fighting against the discrimination they encounter. Such research can involve different research methods, such as disabled persons creating their own film where they can make their voices heard. Methods like these are more ethical than traditional research methods like interviews, and help make visible the lives and experiences of persons with disabilities in countries like Burkina Faso. However, such participatory methods also have their drawbacks, some of which are discussed in this paper in order to reflect on the way forward for disability research in sub-Saharan Africa.