Drama and video are effective tools for stimulating reflection and research on violence. This article describes a research process which tried to understand expressions of identity, constructions of citizenship and prospects for reducing future violence in northern Nigeria, where there have been many outbreaks of violence centred on religion and ethnicity. Researchers and local partners carried out a survey in several communities. They then used the survey findings to develop a drama which was performed in each community and which was followed by a facilitated debate. Participatory video was integrated at all stages. The research findings show that most people do not believe that the contemporary violence is a result of religion. Rather, they see religion as the organising platform. This analysis offers a more nuanced understanding of the conflict than merely labelling it ethno-religious.
This collaboratively multiauthored essay presents diverse tales of organizing and communicative practices in our global context. Authors from India, Nepal, Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, the United States, and Nigeria present individual contributions that coalesce around three clear thematic concerns regarding issues of organizing and communicating: (1) silence and voice, (2) the limits and consequences of linguistic and theoretical translations, and (3) the communal considerations of research politics and participation. The essay concludes with communal reflections on how it is that in attempting to engage with diversity we begin to see remarkable similarities not only in expressing a desire to be heard but also in making a commitment to let others be heard, not only in breaking boundaries and building alliances but also in moving towards a collective, inclusive, and participative conceptualization of the myriad shapes of organizing and communicating that exist in the contemporary global context.
Agaba is running berserk in the street, wielding a machete and prancing as if possessed. As he rants and raves, he seems oblivious of every one following him trying to stop him, to hear what the cause of his aggravations is. “I am going to kill someone today, in fact more than one! As many as will tell me that I do not come from this place! What does it take to come from this desert town after I have lived here for 30 years, and had twelve children here? If it is a football team they want I have produced it! So, what is it? I will truly kill someone!”
When he finally comes to a stop he looks very weary, frustrated and defeated. As if it would help to talk, he narrates his problems. He has lived in Kano for 30 years, paid all his tax here and had all his 12 children in this town. Three of the children have gained admission to the university and the State would not give them scholarship. “Do you know why? They are telling them that they do not come from Kano! Where do they come from, every one?” That is why I am going mad, and I am right to do so, do you hear!? “He calms down again, and in a very subdued voice asks, Where do these children come from?”
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