This book analyzes social research and genres of comics from cross-cultural perspectives. It disentangles the impact of comics in understanding social, cultural and political issues and considers the challenges they may raise from an ethical point of view. In nine case studies focused on topics such as migration, science and technology innovation, urban sociology and criminology, the book aims to answer the following questions: How can the comic medium help understand research's narratives? To what extent can comics can be incorporated within traditional social research steps? What body of knowledge is being created by research-based comics? How can they represent social class without eliminating it or reproducing its stereotypes and how they deconstruct, without removing the "color line" the cultural difference or the naturalization of gender corporality? What are the barriers (theoretical and methodological) that researchers might encounter using comics to communicate sensitive topics? What are the main ethical considerations researchers must consider?While, at first glance, comics-based research seems to be tied mostly to Sociology, Anthropology and Geography, it also is relevant to a host of other disciplines including cultural studies, feminist studies, environmental studies, disability studies, science and technology studies, critical race studies, queer studies and animal studies. This book will also facilitate international and interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers with an interest in exploring the utility and limitations of the graphic medium.
Veronica Moretti is Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology and Business Law, University of Bologna, Italy. She is the Director of the First Cycle Degree Program in Sociology and a member of the University's Bioethics Committee. Her research focuses on the use of creative and visual methods in health and medical sociology. She serves on the board of the European Society for Health and Medical Sociology and on the board of the ESA Research Network on Risk and Uncertainty. She is also one of the founders and Vice President of the Italian Graphic Medicine Association, which promotes the use of graphic novels in healthcare and medical education. Additionally, she is a founding member of Graphic Anatomy, a comic book series published by BeccoGiallo.
Francesco Della Puppa is Associate Professor in Sociology at the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage of Ca' Foscari University of Venice. He carries out research and teaching activities on topics such as international migration; migrant family and the process of family reunification; social construction of masculinity and migration; digital work an Gig Economy, migrant labour; the Bangladeshi diaspora. He is interested in ethno-graphic novel, social sciences through comics, and in establishing academic, scientific, social and human relations with Cuba.
