Representation in participatory video: some considerations from research with Métis in British Columbia

Participatory research is now a central approach for shaping relationships between the academy and marginalized communities and people. Somewhat less developed has been the concern for ensuring that participatory processes have research products that are inclusive and accessible as well. Participatory video has emerged as a key tool in putting together process and product in ways that provide avenues for marginalized communities to participate in both forms of self-research and ways of self-representation. In this essay, the authors discuss the development and progress of two participatory video projects underway with Métis communities in British Columbia. The conditioning factors for the degree and distribution of control over self-representation within participatory video are at least as complex as those within participatory research itself, but none the less doors are opening for marginalized communities via new digital technologies.