Graphics

Graphic representation plays an important role in Women Back to the Land.

Pictorial narrative map on 'Women landworkers in context: a view from the agroecology movement'

• Image description

  This Pictorial Narrative Map titled 'Women landworkers in context' features a central image surrounded by text boxes and speech bubbles.
  The following text appears at the top: Women landworkers in context [a view from the agroecology movement]
  This pictorial map is based on a thematic and narrative analysis of three web articles that were published in connection to International Women's Day 2021 and 2022, and which reported on women in agroecology/landwork in the UK.
  The aim of this infographic is to stimulate reflection on how women landworkers are represented by social movement organisations that support them.
  
  The central feature image is a green circle representing the earth, held up by a pair of cupped hands. On the top of the earth there is a hand-drawn picture of a farm with a silhouetted cityscape set behind. Smaller hands appear from behind the city, holding a banner that reads 'Agroecology'; next to this another banner reads 'Food Justice'. In the centre of the earth stand three women, hoeing the soil beneath their feet. Behind them is a deep pink swirl, forming an infinity loop, on its side. To the left are these words in a curling purple script: 'Care', 'Solidarity', Land justice'. Flanking the loop on the right are these words: 'No dig', 'Organic', and 'Regenerative'. At the bottom of the earth, nestled in the cupped hands and beneath the women's feet, green leaves of different kinds are growing outwards. At the base of the hands, in the purple curling script, it reads 'Landless Landworkers'. To both the left and right are hand drawn images of the heads and shoulders of eleven different women. Beneath them is a scroll, with the following written across it:
  '1. Women landworkers (alt. ‘regenerative women on the land’). Characterised by the following traits: community-focused/supportive/collaborative; open-minded/ questioning/ understanding; passionate/ mission-focused/ enterprising; caring/ nurturing/ desiring to nourish others. Understood to seek a better quality of life/ healthy lifestyle/ wellbeing/ outdoor living. Celebrated for contributions towards addressing climate change and social justice. Known to suffer from being treated as a minority/ exception/ token member; placed in caregiver roles; backgrounded/ unseen/ unacknowledged; subjected to sexist discrimination/ side-lining/ discrediting/ 'mansplaining'.
  2. Women of colour who are landworkers (esp. women of African and Caribbean heritage/ Melanin-rich women). Characterised as honouring/ respectful/ reverent of the land; possessing indigenous/ ancestral/ cultural knowledge of agroecology. Known to suffer additionally from systematic racist abuse/ marginalisation/ alienation from the land.
  3. Queer women landworkers (alt referred to as ‘queer landworkers’) described as creating radically caring and inclusive communities within the land justice movement.'

  In the background of the central image, sitting behind and surrounding the earth, are a series of four grey-scale overlapping images. The monochrome contrasts with the vibrant colours of the central earth. On the top left of the earth is an image of data series set against a grid. The word 'Capitalism' is written across the top. On the top right of the earth is an image of a storm cloud and branched lightening bolt. The words 'Climate emergency' are overlain in white font. On the bottom left of the earth is an image of the crossed bars of a rusted metal cage. The words 'Patriarchy' and 'White Supremacy' are overlain in white font. On the bottom right of the earth is an image of a tractor pulling a harvesting machine across a large arable field, with uniform rows of plant material forming diagonal stripes across the image. The words 'Extractive Agriculture' are overlain in white font.
  
  The following text appears in coloured speech bubbles that flank the central image:
  Sandra: Melanin rich women bring ancestral wisdom and cultural practices to the land
  Nikki: I have noticed that often women contribute solutions to challenges in the sector that are more community or support focused
  Rita: It can be difficult for women to see farming as a viable choice of livelihood
  Zoe: I've experienced radical queer communities of care that have become part of my life as a grower
  Clem: How to enact honourable harvest and cooperate - these are skills that in capitalism, white supremacy, and patriarchy, we don’t have that many opportunities to practise
  Katie: The regenerative farming movement is full of strong female role models
  Becky: Women are still more often placed in the role of caregiver than farming decision maker
  Mariam: I'm hoping to make space for other black and people of colour in the area to come to the garden and learn
  Kate: This is a very hard lifestyle choice
  
  The following text appears at the bottom of the page: Created by Dr Rachael Durrant as part of 'Women Back to the Land', a multimedia research project funded by the Leverhulme Trust.

Pictorial Narrative Maps

The researcher experiments with illustration for multiple purposes, from project planning to analysing findings and communicating results. It's hoped that this creative method can reveal new insights into the topic as she explores the phenomenon of women’s journeys into landbased work and ecofeminist activism in contemporary Britain.

Throughout this practice, Rachael has drawn visuals to better understand theory, map out the topic, analyse data, communicate ideas and examine her own position in the research. This has resulted in a series of 'Pictorial Narrative Maps' (Lapum et al., 2015), based on documentary and interview data.

For example, the 'Women Landworkers in Context' pictorial map explores how women landworkers are represented by the social movement organisations that support them. It's based on the researcher’s narrative analysis of reporting on women landworkers in the UK, including quotes on individual’s experiences.

Practice as Research 

Rachael’s drawing practice includes using pens and pencils on paper and digital illustrations, including photographs within digital collages. These methods can place the project in relation to the arts-based tradition of ‘Practice as Research’, where the research enquiry is viewed as inextricably bound up with different forms of professional practice that are inherent to the project overall.

In the wider project, this 'Practice as Research' could also include the development of visual-ethnographic content, the facilitation of participatory workshops, and the communication of the research to various audiences via a range of media channels.

A variety of graphics will be shared on the blog as the project progresses. 

Digital illustration, 'My Elemental Needs' foregrounds the artist's essential connection to the earth