This project investigates the politics and practices of ‘listening’ in a range of community-level projects which deploy innovative storytelling techniques to address prejudice and facilitate new understandings across differences. The research develops new understandings of the communicative aspects of multiculturalism and protocols for negotiating differences of language, culture, identity and politics. Contemporary community relations and anti-racism work has increasingly turned to a politics of speaking or voice, yet attention to ‘listening’ is underdeveloped in both research and practice. Through case studies of Living Libraries and participatory media projects, this research identifies the practices and motivations required to challenge everyday hierarchies of attention. The research centres on two case studies, described below. The project is funded by a UTS ECR Grant (Dreher, 2009).

Case Study: Living Libraries

The first of the Living Across Difference case studies investigates Living Libraries, an innovative social inclusion community initiative developed in Europe increasingly being adopted by public libraries across Australia, and some community groups. ‘Living Libraries Australia’ is a national strategy for connecting and strengthening local communities through one-on-one conversation between ‘living books’ (generally people facing prejudice within a community) and readers (members of the general public). ‘Living Libraries Australia’ is funded by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and actively supported by the Australian Library and Information Association. Our research has focused on two examples of well-established, regular Living Libraries – one in Lismore (the first Living Library in Australia), the other in Auburn (a culturally diverse area in Western Sydney). Our research methodology has included participant observation, recorded interviews with organisers and participants, and background research on media coverage, relevant policy and the international Living Libraries movement. A research report, ‘Conversation by conversation’: Living Libraries and the politics of listening, has been accepted for refereeing through UTS Shopfront as part of their monograph series (forthcoming 2011). This report documents the aims, history and key practices of Living Libraries in Australia, and provides suggested strategies for Living Library practitioners. The emergence and development of Living Libraries is analysed within the report with reference to contact theory, storytelling and the aims of addressing prejudice and with reference to the politics and ethics of ‘listening across difference’.

Case Study: Digital Storytelling

The second case study analyses a number of Digital Storytelling and Urban Music projects run by Information Cultural Exchange (ICE) through the second half of 2009. ICE is an innovative new media and community arts organisation working with young people, refugees and culturally diverse communities in Western Sydney. Community media and arts techniques such as digital storytelling provide significant resources for cultural citizenship whereby people associated with the cultures, communities and places that are marginalised or misrepresented in mainstream media are able to speak up, talk back and tell different stories. The current research examines the tensions between ideas of ‘community’ and ‘public’ evident in the ‘listening spaces’ created at the public launch events that showcase the outcomes of digital and lyrical storytelling projects run by ICE. Of particular interest is the way in which the moment of ‘going public’ in community-based arts initiatives entails a complex politics of recognition combining risk and affirmation. The research outcomes from the ICE case study include a conference paper (to be presented at ACS Crossroads 2010) and journal article, Going public: the politics of recognition at digital storytelling events (publication forthcoming). This case study has been conducted in connection with the ARC Linkage Project ‘Ripple Effects’.

Upcoming Presentations

2010

June 9, Going Public

Information and Cultural Exchange, Parramatta

Tanja Dreher and Jemima Mowbray

June 10 , Listening and Sharing in Multicultural Communities: Auburn Living Library Project

Community Capacity Building: the role of Local Government, National Conference Parramatta , NSW

Tanja Dreher and Jemima Mowbray

June 21, Going Public

Association for Cultural Studies Crossroads 2010, Hong Kong

Tanja Dreher

7-9 December, Going Public

Cultural Studies Association of Australia Conference 2010, Byron Bay

Jemima Mowbray

Publications in Progress

Going Public: the politics of recognition at digital storytelling events, refereed journal article by Tanja Dreher and Jemima Mowbray

‘Conversation by Conversation’: Living Libraries and the politics of listening, refereed Monograph by Tanja Dreher and Jemima Mowbray

Previous relevant publications

Tiffany Lee-Shoy and Tanja Dreher (2009), “Creating listening spaces for intergenerational communication – Tiffany Lee-Shoy in conversation with Tanja Dreher”. Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies, 23(4), pp.573 – 577

Tanja Dreher (2010). “Speaking up or being heard? Community media interventions and the politics of listening”. Media, culture & society, 32(1), p. 85