Using Digital Tools to Challenge Xenophobia and Support International Development in South Africa

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The project will work with groups of young people across the Gauteng province of South Africa to challenge the rising tide of xenophobia to be found in the country today, supporting the work of the international development NGO The Bishop Simeon Trust (BST) and the 20 Community Based Organisations (CBOs) it services in the region. Working in partnership with BST and the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre (JHGC), the project will use the exhibitions, archive and other resources of JHGC to create a set of digital educational materials that will explore the lessons that can be learnt for South Africa today from the ethnic violence of the Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide. The project will draw on the research findings of Cooke's AHRC project 'Experiencing the Digital World: the Cultural Value of Digital Engagement with Heritage' on the ways in which the co-production of digital heritage assets can, when time and resources permit, genuinely connect grassroots communities with heritage institutions, effecting a fundamental shift in the relationship between the two. Over the course of the project, the group will work together to make a range of digital resources, the precise nature of which will be decided via a process of knowledge exchange and co-produduction. It is envisaged that the project will produce short films, video and photographic essays, curate small digital exhibitions, research family histories or produce creative writing, all of which will be presented in such a way as to raise questions, draw comparisons with, and prompt discussion about the rise of contemporary xenophobic violence in South Africa. These resources will then be used as part of an educational programme to be rolled out across, and embedded within, the wider educational activities of all the CBOs. In so doing, the project will give BST the opportunity to further strengthen the CBOs, as well as explore new means of building the confidence and resilience of the children and young people supported. It will provide a safe space for the exploration of the highly sensitive issues around xenophobia and empower young people to consider root causes, consequences and means of resolution within their own communities. This will have the impact of helping to challenge prejudice at community level, leading to greater prioritization of xenophobia by community leaders and help identify long term and sustainable community-led solutions. The project will also give JHGC the opportunity to undertake a sustained period of work with CBOs that have a far more diverse demographic than the visitors they have worked with hitherto. It will develop the digital skill-base of colleagues working at the centre, allowing them to undertake future digital co-production projects, exploring how digital tools can provide new and better ways to deliver its broader mission 'to use the history of the Holocaust and Rwandan genocide to intervene directly in contemporary debates on human rights abuses, xenophobia, racism and bigotry'. The material produced will be incorporated into the centre's online offering and will be freely available to all. A selection of the materials will also be exhibited as a digital installation at the centre itself. Thus, the project responds to the 'Highlight Notice for International Development'. It will 'catalyse knowledge exchange, shared learning and capability development' between cultural organisations and diverse community groups and 'explore ways that arts and humanities research can inform approaches to inclusive participatory decision-making, community engagement, co-production, social innovation and user-led service design in an ODA recipient country', in order to make 'a significant contribution to the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development', specifically, Goal 16 to 'promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies', by 'challenging discrimination' and supporting 'participatory and representative decision-making at all levels.