Transcending the researcher│researched divide

Maynooth University Social Science Institute (MUSSI) working paper No. 15 (October 2021); by Robert Hamm, Ruairi Weiner, and Mary Corcoran – accessible here, and also on the pages of MUSSI.

During the academic year 2020/21 a number of introductory online seminars on the method of Collective Memory-Work were organised at the Department of Sociology, Maynooth University. This paper has been written by a group of participants in one of those seminars. The motivation for writing came from the uniqueness of experiences in the seminar and the
ongoing reflection after the formal group activities ended. We will first present a general briefing on Collective Memory-Work. Then the concrete activities carried out in the seminar will be described. Against this background we will share reflections arising from our Collective Memory-Work that touch on theory-building, methodological innovation and pedagogy, and in our opinion have currency far beyond the confines of our seminar. More specifically, the aim of this Working Paper is to contribute to discussions about method, methodology, context and character of research, and relationships in research processes.