Making the invisible visible in International Relations: Film,co-produced research and transnational feminism

Abstract

How to make the invisible visible in a way that recognises the agency of the invisible is a question pertinent to feminist and decolonial method in International Relations. This article proposes a new method of research to explore this question: the co-production of a narrative feature film between an academic researcher, a film crew and a group of women from rural coastal Tanzania living below the international poverty line of US$2 a day. This project is the first use of narrative feature film as method in International Relations. The article situates film in the wider debate on feminist and visual method in IR before exploring the practice and politics of co-production of film as research method. In so doing, the article makes two key arguments. First, film offers a new method of research that translates the everyday experiences of the invisible to understandings of international politics and creates outputs that appeal to broad and diverse global audiences. Second, power relations are inherent and unavoidable in co-produced research; however, instead of closing down opportunities for collaboration, exploring the politics of such power relations opens up new ways of thinking about transnational feminism.