Transnational Feminist Data Visualization Mapping of Artists' Responses to Violence Against Women
Open Access
- Author:
- Stetz, Lauren
- Graduate Program:
- Art Education
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- February 24, 2022
- Committee Members:
- Michelle Bae-Dimitriadis, Major Field Member
Booker Carpenter, Major Field Member
Karen Keifer-Boyd, Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Jacqueline Reid-Walsh, Outside Unit, Field & Minor Member
Karen Keifer-Boyd, Program Head/Chair - Keywords:
- transnational feminism
data visualization
art education
violence against women
gender-based violence
arts-based research
participatory action research
intersectionality
mapping
trauma
art activism
#MeToo - Abstract:
- Rising to the forefront with the global #MeToo movement, art activism confronting violence against women holds the potential to empower individuals within digital spaces, such as social media platforms. Through the study of 24 artists’ narratives and their artworks that address violence against women, this participatory action arts-based research study explores localized nuances of violence, as revealed by culture, regional histories, and politics. Engaging in qualitative interviews and mapping methodologies, this study questions how artists’ narratives and their artworks can support transnational coalition-building. Utilizing a theoretical framework of transnational feminisms (Mohanty, 2003) and “contextualized intersectionality” (Falcon & Nash, 2015, p. xx), this research examines artists’ narratives of a diverse strata of individuals across race, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomics, and geographies. Considering art activism within “transnational organizing spaces,” artists in this study maintain online visibility through webpages, Facebook, or Instagram (Falcon, 2015, p. 7). This study provides a visual framework for coalition-building through the collaborative co-construction of a publicly accessible digital map with artist participants. By applying layered analysis using self reflexivity, color coding, and mapping (Keifer-Boyd, 2014a), my research yielded ten central themes addressed by artists globally, including (a) shame and victim-blaming; (b) silence; (c) vulnerability; (d) family and societal expectations; (e) religion; (f)empowerment; (g) protest; (h) memorial; (i) language; and (j) law and government. These ten themes addressed the causes, symptoms, and potential for societal transformation of violence against women. Highlighting the potential for artists across mediums, borders, and intersectional identities to develop coalitions within transnational spaces, my research reveals how pluralistic voices and perspectives can serve to dislocate hierarchies of knowledge to inspire collaboration, conversation, and support. The findings of this study emphasize the power of shared trauma to construct mutually beneficial relationships between artists, activists, and scholars, offering routes toward empowerment and social transformation. The data visualization map created in this study offers a model for engagement in transnational conversations within the field of art education. In addition, educators can use the data visualization map, artist interviews, and artworks to construct an art education curriculum to address violence against women through the examination of global artists’ works.