Evaluating the extent to which social researchers apply feminist and empowerment frameworks in photovoice studies with female participants: a literature review

In the last decades, we have witnessed a growing interest for the use of photovoice, also referred to as participatory photography, as a visual research method, particularly in social sciences. In this systematic review of the literature we seek to explore how the methodology has been applied in studies focusing on the target group women and critically evaluate the potential of photovoice to ‘give’ voice to and empower female participants. Nineteen relevant articles were identified and anal yzed using a descriptive within- and cross-case analysis. Several authors claimed their study was inspired by feminist theory, however few were convincing in the way this was rolled out in practice. Empowerment claims were made by many, however seldom evaluated at the end of the studies. We outline how female voices can manifest themselves in different phases of a research process and present types of empowerment that can potentially be reached through photovoice.

Publication year:2019

BOF-keylabel:yes

IOF-keylabel:yes

BOF-publication weight:1

CSS-citation score:2

Authors from:Higher Education

Accessibility:Open