COJUST’s qualitative approach – the joys and frustrations
Meeting people and listening to their stories never stops being interesting or relevant. In COJUST where the focus is on the financial challenges being dealt with by low-income groups when facing the sustainable transition, meeting people, and using qualitative methods for data collection are the obvious choices. You can quantify economic difficulties and how much CO2 can be saved by travelling by bus or installing solar panels, but numbers cannot tell us about the difficult choices being made at the end of each month in an effort to make ends meet, or why prosumers are largely a middle class privileged group of people. If we are going to fight injustice, then the stories about the heroic efforts being made to survive on low incomes in a society that is geared up for living a luxurious middle-class life need to be told.
“Being there” as my anthropological hero Malinowski would say is what it’s all about. The COJUST team has been to three different cities this Autumn; Trondheim, Bergen and Stavanger, and two main ethnographic approaches to gather the stories from low-income groups have been applied; storytelling workshops that are followed up by individual interviews. The choice to visit different cities is part of COJUST’s myth-busting, this means providing the stories that show that Norway is not as egalitarian or homogenous as it likes to present itself. The growing number of people who are defined by NAV or national statistics, as living on a low-income is part of this, as are the regional and city-based variations. This text is about gathering stories in Trondheim.
COJUST’s informants are from low-income groups. We have spoken to single-mothers, people with drug related or psychiatric problems, individuals with disabilities or health issues, the elderly, people from a variety of cultural backgrounds, the unemployed and some who have chosen lifestyles that mean that their income will never reach middle-class expectations.
Three storytelling workshops in Trondheim got the ball rolling. With support from different civil societies and volunteer organisations, storytelling guided discussions about the implications of subsidies and policy intended to provide incentives for the Norwegian population to live more sustainable lifestyles. Incentives for transport, housing, and general everyday consumption associated with food and clothing. The storytelling method is about collaboration, and it enables us to identify current challenges and to propose solutions. Storytelling workshops are also about mutual respect and trust. It's not about getting it "right" or discovering "facts". The most important aspect is listening and learning from each other. The COJUST team wants to make sure that the voices of people from low-income groups are heard because we do not hear from them often enough and certainly not on their terms. Difficult stories have been told in the workshops by people who are struggling on a number of levels, but they are also stories about finding solutions and the pride that people feel because they are coping, surviving even when society around them is not supportive and does not understand what they are dealing with.
Some of the stories are simple and less than dramatic, but in a wealthy and seemly democratic society, amazing, and for those dealing with it, frustrating. We have been told again and again that people choose to walk rather than take the bus, because a round trip costs kr 80,- and a travel card is far beyond their means. This is well and good when you are physically able to walk and when the weather is kind. It is also unnecessary and unjust. The bus service is public, but when the cost of a ticket is excluding a group that depends upon it, transport equity is lacking.
Time is short during the workshops and stories gathered have come out of group discussions. Digging a little deeper into individual stories and the relationship with subsidies is necessary. Collecting stories from individuals has begun and the hunt for informants is ongoing, although a little bit slow. For a while it seemed like all I wanted for Christmas was to be finished with the interviews in Trondheim, but ethnography takes time because people need time to make time. Time is valuable and scarce. Four interviews have been completed, two are planned and the hope is that the rest will be ready for transcription by the middle of January.
Collecting individual interviews is not rocket science, it is a standard. It is also about being there, meeting people on their own terms. At the time and place of their choice. In COJUST interviews have been touching because they are a statement of trust. On several occasions I have been invited into peoples’ own homes. Something that cannot be taken as a given (certainly not in this age of Corona). The interviews offer insight into the details of everyday life. This is the context where the sustainable transition is taking place and it is in the homes of informants that we can see how energy is being used or in the case of low-income households, not being used. The homes are small spaces, where living solutions have been chosen that save money and energy. Nothing is wasted. Clothing has been discussed; the coat was old but still has some life in it. Food is for consumption and compost, and not to be thrown away. We have heard about the same things in workshops but in the context of homes the solutions are given life and colour.
Unfortunately, Corona is a game changer again. We are not just close to Christmas; infection rates are rising, and we have been told to keep our distance from strangers. This means the plans to complete interviews in January are tentative and the goodwill required from people when asking them to make appointments to speak to us is even higher than usual. There is hope that the pandemic will be under control in January and the angst about Corona on the decline. If not then telephone interviews and Teams meetings are solutions that are tried and tested and if not a perfect solution, close enough.