Introduction

Creativity. Dissent. Development. With these three terms written on a white board we started our research. It soon became clear that the concepts and dynamics hidden behind these headwords were as complex as they were versatile – and in need of further specification. The process of narrowing down the field of research oriented itself towards a complex set of considerations:

Which understanding of the role of creativity can we agree upon as a group as foundation for this research? Do we need to assume hence look out for situations of dissent to find a suitable actor? Which languages would we be able to use in our research or, in other words, which limitations do we have to consider?

It soon became clear that the underlying assumptions with which each member of this group arrived were quite distinct. On the lookout for advice we were thankfully assisted by the German-American sociologist Erich Fromm who once quipped

“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties”

As this is true for both science and art we decided to not only approach a given topic in an academically sound manner but to also explore our own creativity while entering terra incognita in the context of both this particular group and our assigned field of research.

As the discovery of such a new space is usually done with all senses on alert, this representation of our research also features different kinds of data and stimulations – such as texts, photos and videos – as we are convinced that such an approach facilitates a holistic perception, and is a necessary feature of contemporary ethnography.

As necessary theoretical foundation we identified the concepts of SPACE, DISSENT, ART & CULTURE and RESILIENCE …