Theoretical and methodological approaches of visual sociology in the study of gender

One way to comprehend social reality is to watch animation films and animation series that broadcast gender models. In connection with the changes taking place in modern ideas about gender, it will be relevant to study gender roles that function in modern animation cinema. The purpose of the article is to study the theoretical and methodological approaches of visual sociology, used in the study of gender, for further selection of the most optimal methods in the study of gender models broadcast in modern animation cinema. Based on the system-analytical method, an overview of the degree of development of the problems of visual analysis of gender is made; the definitions of the concept of "gender" are considered. The authors believe that the most relevant will be the understanding of gender as a system of sociocultural norms constructed by society, which represent a number of characteristics and can be fixed by the methods of visual sociology. The main approaches of visual sociology are systematized: psychoanalytic, socio-critical, deconstructionist, hermeneutic, semiotic, (post)structuralist and discursive. The most correct methods of visual analysis in the study of gender (video surveillance, photo and video interviews, content analysis) have been substantiated. The authors conclude that for a qualitative analysis of gender problems in animated cinema, it is necessary to use classical methods of visual sociology in combination with additional methods of sociology (hermeneutic analysis, semiotic interpretation, focus groups).

“Now is the real Jungle!” Institutional hunting and migrants’ survival after the eviction of the Calais camp

The refugee makeshift settlement of Calais, globally known as the “Calais Jungle”, was dismantled in October 2016. Its existence, as a spectacle repeatedly spread by the media all over the world, was a key element in the representation of the so-called “migration crisis” in Europe. One year after the end of the camp, this article focuses on a new scenario in which dispersed settlements keep reappearing and migrants are hunted by the authorities and the police on a daily basis, observing the everyday life of the many who continue to reach this borderland in the hope of crossing to the other side, by any means and at any risk. This ethnographic and visual sociology project follows a group of young Afghans, identifying the crucial phases that structure widespread daily routines and a broad moral landscape: survival, the hunt, and the attempt to get across.

Mapping Children’s Life-Worlds: A Content-Analytical Study of Drawings of Favourite Gifts

What children count as their favourite things tell us not only about children but also about their social and cultural experiences. This study,* based on the outcomes of a children’s drawing competition organised by the Estonian National Museum and applying a combined framework of visual sociology and participa-tory research, proposes an innovative angle to using the museum’s experimental approach to contemporary collecting of cultural heritage. This large-sample (n=926) content-analytical study of children’s favourite gifts gives a rich ethno-graphic and sociological perspective on children’s life-worlds. On the one hand, the children’s wishes reflected contemporary global trends in technology and commercialisation. On the other hand, the children’s prevailing dream of having a pet shows loneliness shaped by societal changes, including urbanisation and changing family models and time regimes.

Queering Bratislava: On Borders, Otherness and Public Space

This paper follows the multiple layers of an urban fabric that is stereotypically characterised as ‘post-socialist’, yet in essence, it is subject to ongoing transitions – much like the notion of being queer. What can we learn from queer theory in relation to post-socialist urban theory? What are the methodological advancements that derive from a queer approach to research? In this light, the presentation breaks the usually logocentric academic discourse as it engages with the premises of visual sociology. Using visual material from Bratislava focusing on urban inscriptions (street art, urban interventions), it opens up a discussion about the changes in the city and the struggles of different groups.