“Il gioco” as collaborative method: feminist and antiracist musings on the power of play

What transformative potential might reside in play as a collaborative method, particularly in contexts of migration and with populations of marginalized youth? In this paper, we explore play “in anthropology and as anthropology” while drawing from our collective experiences with collaborative research through a Palermo-based participatory film and storytelling lab that foregrounds “il gioco” (play). We discuss the lab's approach to play as a collaborative method in the process of co-creation that helps with navigating social and linguistic differences, invites practices of improvisation, and aspires to disrupt uneven landscapes of power. We also consider how play can serve as a form of ethnography and mode of analysis. Engaging with theory on collaborative anthropology, creative and experimental ethnography, and decolonizing methodologies, we gesture to the possibilities for critical collaborative play as a feminist, antiracist methodological orientation. Particularly as the field of anthropology grapples with existential crises and strives toward decolonizing futures, play as method warrants further critical attention.