The ‘walking with mothers’ group captures the neighbourhood from different angles. Image: Marcia Candra
As home secretary, Theresa May set out to create a hostile environment for people from other countries, to make life unwelcoming for those deemed to not rightfully belong. The effects of this are increasingly felt by migrant families. Yet migrant families, through their everyday lives and social and political actions, create their own sense of belonging and contribute to changing meanings of citizenship.
As part of a project called Participation Arts and Social Action in Research, we used participatory theatre and walking to better understand how migrant families in London create such a sense of belonging and participate in their communities. Artists and researchers collaborated to gain a multi-layered understanding. The strength of this collaboration was its potential to address complex, politically and emotionally challenging issues in a nuanced way, allowing different and at times contradictory voices and experiences to be heard and reflected on.
