SPEAK: Stories Promoting Empowerment, Agency, and Knowledge

Objective

SPEAK explores and analyses how non-profit organisations – including non-governmental, civil society, and migrant-led organisations – based in Spain (Catalonia) and Italy (Sicily) empower people with migrant backgrounds to speak for themselves through storytelling and narrative-building initiatives. As critical nodes in Mediterranean migration pathways, these regions offer unique insights into how organisations use various forms of self-narrative and participatory methods to enable migrant empowerment. SPEAK addresses what scholars identify as 'epistemic violence' in migration research, where migrants are treated as objects rather than subjects of knowledge. SPEAK employs an interdisciplinary approach to: (i) Develop a conceptual framework of good organisational practices specific to Mediterranean contexts; (ii) Examine how organisations' storytelling activities enhance and transform migrant agency across narrative, political, social, and epistemic dimensions; (iii) Build E-SCAPE, a novel digital archive of de-centred narratives and counter-storytelling. The methodology includes multiple case studies of non-profit organisations, using Participatory Action Research with migrants as co-researchers, semi-structured interviews, arts-based methods, and quantitative surveys. E-SCAPE will feature diverse storytelling formats complemented by Relief Maps to visualise intersectional inequalities. SPEAK contributes to advancing critical migration studies by centring migrant voices in knowledge production and making migration research more inclusive. The project aims to bridge the gap between academic research and practical application, with the potential to significantly influence public discourse and policy debates. Through its innovative methodology and digital humanities approach, SPEAK seeks to foster counter-hegemonic knowledge production, aligning with EU priorities for migrant integration and social cohesion.