Embodied cartography and participatory observation

vulnerabilities and opportunities in the mapping of political-communicative processes

Abstract

We consider the concept of "embodied cartography" as a methodological and ethical gesture for the generation of data and the analysis of communicative-political processes enacted by citizen participation processes, such as social movements. By articulating feminist epistemology of vulnerabilities, post-representational notions of social cartography, and principles of observant participation, we propose a strategy for mapping conditions of possibility and performativities that enable us to distinguish different topographies of political participation.

We apply this approach to a case study on the anti-psychiatry movement in Brazil, unveiling how the interaction between the vulnerabilities of the cartographer and the participants paves the way for innovations in social knowledge and democracy. We highlight not only the challenges and opportunities of this approach but also its potential to unfold situated theoretical and conceptual insights, such as our emerging concept of "anti-psychiatric creolization".