Paris-Montréal MapCollab

Personal stories, neighbourhood histories: A collaborative project in Montréal and Paris.

Too often we speak negatively of youth in immigrant neighborhoods; we emphasize the process of impoverishment/disaffiliation/de-qualification that affect these areas. This participative research project aims to provide a different perspective on these transformations.

Instead of looking at the phenomenon of decay, we ask instead what is being (re)constructed, which allows the production of identities and cultures by: (1) highlighting the counter-discourses constructed by young people to face the dominant discourse on their “anomie,” (2) analyzing the collective histories they build for themselves and between them, (3) exploring power relations, the conditions that constrain or favor youth citizenship and political participation.

In Montreal (in the neighborhoods of St-Michel and Little Burgundy) and in Paris (in the suburbs of Aubervilliers and Pantin), youth are producing multimedia audio-guides of their neighborhood which can be uploaded on a telephone. You will be able to visit these yet-to-discover neighborhoods by immersing yourself in the sound and visual ambiance created by youths who speak to you about their territories.