Paper long abstract:

In this paper we draw on a collaborative ethnography with asylum seeking participants living in temporary accommodation which took place during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study was a two-year collaboration with ‘Migrants Organising for Rights and Empowerment’ (MORE), a grassroots organisation based in Glasgow advocating for human rights and dignity for asylum seekers and refugees living in Glasgow. We describe how this collaboration was built in practice and what key methodological challenges and opportunities emerged in the course of the study and beyond. In doing so, the talk offers a critical reappraisal of principles and practice often associated with participatory methods and co-production, calling for an understanding of these methods that centers around care and relationships. In conclusion we argue for an approach that sees co-production as a humble form of ethnographic inquiry rather than a 'messy' and complex methodology as it is often understood in the current literature.