BIOGRAPHICAL WORKSHOPS WITH GRADUATE STUDENTS AND RESEARCHERS:

A METHOD THAT BUILDS COMMUNITY

Abstract

The text briefly presents the principles, dynamics and protocol of the biographical workshops, highlighting the potential of the method in the fields of research, training and potentially for civic action. It quotes excerpts from testimonies authorized by participants of the two workshops held at the Institute of Sociology at Porto University in October 2022 illustrating the effects resulting from the experience of participating in these two working groups. We place the pertinence of the method in an interdisciplinary field, affiliated with qualitative sociology, North American anthropology, and the stream of life stories in education, in which the author was trained. This framework in dialogue with the reflections of the participants makes it possible to specifically analyze the experience in group of the collective dimensions of biographical work. Consequently, it also enables the identification of the mechanisms facilitating a sense of belonging in academic and scientific contexts marked by precariousness. The article illustrates the theoretical-practical coherence of this method enhances for training and exercise within the social sciences and humanities.