Let’s Get Crafty with It: Engaging Zines In Your Research

Background and Purpose: Zines are works of DIY creative expression and communication, usually self-published, small-batch, and free or low-cost. They often take the form of small booklets, magazines, or pamphlets. Zines can be complex works of art, but at their most basic, a zinester simply needs a piece of paper, scissors, and a writing utensil. Zines are an accessible and democratic form of communication with a long history of use by marginalized groups to practice activism, resistance, and community care.

Zines are increasingly utilized at every step of the research process but are most often used to engage participants in data collection or disseminate findings to a community. Zine-making can be used as an arts-based method in which participants answer a researcher-provided prompt through their zines. This approach allows for communication outside of a traditional interview or focus group. Further, it prioritizes participant choice and agency, ceding control to the participant as they make moment-to-moment decisions about their zine. Zine-making can yield rich data and provide an enjoyable experience for participants. Zines may also be used to disseminate research outside of academia in an appealing and accessible format that resonates with the communities with whom we collaborate. Additionally, the researcher can create zines themselves to brainstorm research design or to practice reflexivity.

Methods: In this experiential workshop, attendees will learn about zines and explore ways to incorporate zine-making into their research by crafting their own zine to take home or trade with other conference attendees. The workshop will begin with an introduction to zines. Then, attendees will be briefed on previous uses of zines in research. The bulk of the workshop, however, will be spent “getting crafty with it” as attendees are guided through the zine-making process. Attendees will be provided with art supplies, including paper, markers, scissors, stickers, magazines, and glue. Prompts will be presented to encourage attendees to generate innovative ways to use zines in their research process. Attendees will represent these ideas in a zine of their own.

Results: Attendees will leave with greater knowledge and appreciation of zines and their history. Attendees will have been exposed to previous uses of zines in research, within and beyond the field of social work. Drawing from this information and their own creativity, each attendee will have created their own zine representing their ideas for incorporating zines into their research.

Conclusions and Implications: Zines have a long history in many marginalized communities as tools for communication, education, and liberation. By engaging zines in our research, social workers can work alongside our participants in their efforts, moving towards liberation while also gathering rich, meaningful data, communicating to our collaborators and communities, and creatively reflecting on our own role in the process.