Page 231 - Cultural Theory

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••• Maggie O’Neill •••

In the process of conducting consultation research, the researchers became aware very
quickly that ‘safety’ was a pressing issue for all three groups. Sex workers are very vul-
nerable to violence, assault, verbal abuse and in some cases murder (see O’Neill, 2001;
Kinnell, 2006, 2001). Young people and older residents expressed their fears and inse-
curities about: harassment from kerbcrawlers; lack of safety on streets, especially after
dark; and fear of crime linked to drug cultures, and drug dealing. The three groups
attended arts workshops facilitated by Kate Green (freelance arts worker with Walsall
Youth Arts) and produced visual re-presentations through a combination of PA and PAR.
The collaboration across the groups aimed to: challenge stereotypes; create a space
for the voices of those living in the ‘red light area’; develop artistic forms for re-
presenting their experiences; and facilitate ideas for change.
The main themes emerging from the workshops were: the development of partic-
ipatory action research and processes of community development and governance;
the vital role of the arts in processes of social regeneration and inclusion (sex work-
ers are not usually consulted about safety in the areas they live and work in, despite
the endemic levels of violence against them); and the role of creative inclusion in
facilitating spaces for the voices of local people.
The main outcomes of the collaboration were: some changes in local policy (see
www.safetysoapbox.com); an exhibition launched at The New Art Gallery in Walsall
and the Big Issue ran an article on the exhibition and research project; an under-
standing of the role of the arts in research (cultural sociology) with communities,
especially in relation to cultural diversity and the generation of praxis as purposeful
knowledge; and creative ways of working with people to consult and make visible
their concerns and ideas for change.
Purposeful knowledge as praxis emerged from a combination of PAR and PA (as
ethno-mimesis) and focused attention upon the standpoints of the people concerned
promoting ‘thick’ descriptions of lived cultures and helping audiences to better
understand complex issues and lived experiences. Purposeful knowledge can also
alter attitudes, policy and practice. Dialogic texts can help the de-construction of
stereotypes of ‘otherness’ thus challenging the stereotype of the ‘prostitute’ (we pre-
fer the term sex worker) in the public imagination.

Cultural Sociology as Praxis:
Creative Inclusion and Cultural Change

Over a period of ten months the research team met and interviewed agencies and res-
idents, and also conducted interviews and ethnographic outreach with women and
young women working both on and off street in Walsall.
The researchers took the view that residents and sex workers are the ‘experts’ in the
local area; and through processes of consultation and inclusion of residents and sex
worker voices we can work in partnership with statutory and voluntary agencies
and dedicated sex work projects to reach a pragmatic strategic response to better
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