Playing with Power

Résumé du livre

This case study explores the use of collage, an arts-based technique, applied within an ethnographic study of institutional policymaking for a university's academic freedom policy. The study forms part of my research portfolio centered on exploring an acknowledged "policy-practice" divide in university settings. In this case, I describe my use of an arts-based technique to derive new insights regarding the interactions and relationships between policy actors and how their behaviors shaped decision-making. I describe how I chose and applied an abstract collage to translate and analyze observations of the policymaking process. The created collages provided me with a useful tool to recreate and reflect on my observations, perform nuanced analysis of the power structures, reveal the dominant voices, and identify how particular views may become privileged. This case study reveals the "value of play" during qualitative data analysis, drawing attention to the power of abstract collage as a reflexivity tool and vehicle for challenging entrenched patterns of thinking and assumptions. I also discuss the challenges encountered and necessary mindset adaptations to maximize the benefits of the arts-based technique of collage.