Anne Harbin Anne.Harbin@uwe.ac.uk
Associate Director Media & Journalism
Abstract
The Wisdom from the Global Majority Project aims to develop podcasts that strive to create a platform for people from a refugee background living in Bristol to use their voices, share their stories, share their ambitions form their own narratives and advocate for change.
Equitable representation is at the heart of the project’s ethos. Mainstream media narratives and government policy and rhetoric often ‘other’ people seeking sanctuary in the UK. Whilst well-intentioned charity and non-profit discourse can take agency away from those they seek to benefit, propelling an imaginary of vulnerability and helplessness. This pejorative language often fuels a divisive ‘us’ and ‘them’ imagination and narrative that dehumanises people seeking sanctuary.
Our approach will centre around equity, valuing lived experience knowledges and co-production.
A podcast telling the stories of migrants and refugees through their own words has been launched.
The five-part series, named 'Wisdom from the Global Majority', was made in collaboration between University of the West of England students and social enterprise ACH.
One of the pieces is about Ukrainian Tetyana who fled the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022 and started a children's clothing business in Bristol. Other contributors to the podcasts travelled to the UK from places such as Sudan and Afghanistan and worked with ACH to start new businesses.
