This session of Qualifie working group features a discussion with Mariusz Bogacki, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Konstanz.
While participatory research has long been central to disciplines like anthropology, human geography, social psychology, and environmental studies, it remains under-utilised in political science.
In this talk, Mariusz Bogacki argues for the greater inclusion of participatory methods within political-science research, particularly as part of broader multi-method frameworks. After briefly surveying the spectrum of participatory research approaches, the talk will focus on two visual and spatial techniques: participatory mapping and photo-elicitation.
Drawing on existing studies and his own research practice, Mariusz will evaluate when and why these methods can enhance the study of contemporary political and social phenomena. He will then discuss best practices for deploying them, alone or in combination with other qualitative tools, and highlight both their potential and pitfalls.
The talk will culminate with making the case for how participatory approaches can meaningfully enrich political science research and lead to deeper and more grounded understanding of the contemporary politics.
Speaker: Mariusz Bogacki is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Konstanz. His doctoral research explores identity formation in post-2019 Hong Kong, combining ethnographic fieldwork, participatory and visual methods. Mariusz is also a part time lecturer in Qualitative Research Methods at the Technical University Darmstadt and Instructor in Qualitative Methods at the School of Transnational Governance at the EUI, Florence. He has held visiting-researcher positions at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of California, Berkeley, and Goethe University Frankfurt, and worked as a Research Associate at University of Glasgow. His research interests include qualitative and fieldwork methodology, international relations, nationalism and identity, with a geographical focus on Eastern Europe and East Asia.
The Zoom link will be sent upon registration.