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Body Mapping as a Feminist Visual Method

Exploring the Field Through the Body

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Raum und Bild - Strategien visueller raumbezogener Forschung

Abstract

Scholars of health ethnography, psychology, education, and geography use body maps—life-sized drawings of bodies—to understand people’s personal experiences with (ill) health, trauma, violence, migration, and other social phenomena. Most of the literature focuses on body mapping as a participatory data collection method with multiple functions in research, community activism and health education. However, there is a lack of evidence on the possibilities of using body mapping to explore the field with research participants. In this article, I present how I used body mapping in an exploratory workshop with residents from Taranto, South Italy, an area with high industrial pollution. I argue that creating and discussing body maps helped the participants to reflect on their everyday challenges and relationships in contexts of polluted environments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Maaret Jokela-Pansini

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  1. Maaret Jokela-Pansini
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Correspondence to Maaret Jokela-Pansini .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Soziologie, Universität Wien, Wien, Wien, Austria

    Raphaela Kogler

  2. Geographisches Institut, Universität Bern, Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Jeannine Wintzer

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Jokela-Pansini, M. (2021). Body Mapping as a Feminist Visual Method. In: Kogler, R., Wintzer, J. (eds) Raum und Bild - Strategien visueller raumbezogener Forschung. Springer Spektrum, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-61965-0_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-61965-0_6

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-61965-0

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