Collaboration before collaborative research: The development of ‘Distant Voices’

Abstract

<jats:p> In this article, we explore the origins and early development of the ongoing collaborative action research project ‘Distant Voices – Coming Home’. We begin by explaining why and how our somewhat different backgrounds and interests came to be connected in Distant Voices. We then go on to explore the project’s first two development stages. In discussing the first phase (Distant Voices 1), we focus on how and why we developed creative processes and practices as modes of communication, knowledge exchange and public engagement. In discussing the second phase (Distant Voices 2), we reflect upon how and why these practices came to be seen as constitutive of sites of personal and community development and of knowledge generation. In conclusion, we reflect briefly on the challenges of formalising Distant Voices in its current form – as a large-scale, collaborative research project. </jats:p>

Miller R, Halfway Home: Race, Punishment and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration

“…From the outset, we chose to blur the boundaries between community building, collaborative research, knowledge exchange and public engagement, knowing that closer connections amongst the diverse people involved would likely emerge. But it was the use of creative practices (in this case, collaborative song-writing) that added so much depth to these relationships, evoking a kind of affective proximity that both exceeded my expectations and disrupted my own ‘status quo’ (McNeill and Urie, 2020; Urie et al, 2019). Certainly, working with many others to hear people's stories and to help them craft and communicate those narratives through songs, I have been confronted much more forcefully with the ways in which criminal justice simplifies, flattens and distorts stories, and with the myriad ways that punishment estranges people.…”

Time After Time: Imprisonment, Re-entry and Enduring Temporariness

“…For more extensive discussions of these workshop and the project design see(Crockett Thomas et al, 2020;McNeill and Urie, 2020;Urie et al, 2019).4 For those interested, Jo intends publishing more about the evolution of this method soon, including on her blog, 'Songwriting as Research': https://songwritingstudies.com/songwritingas-research/, accessed 12th April 2022.…”

Re-writing punishment? Songs and narrative problem-solving

“…The origins of the current project lie in precursor projects which revealed both the importance of social re/integration after punishment and the profound difficulties associated with seeking and securing it, particularly within hostile environments (McNeill and Urie, 2020; Urie et al, 2019). At its inception, Distant Voices sought to explore whether and how creative processes might enable a more constructive, affective engagement with questions of crime, punishment and reintegration (cf.…”

“… 4. For more extensive discussions of these workshop and the project design, see Crockett Thomas et al (2020); McNeill and Urie (2020); and Urie et al (2019). …”