Textiles as methodological tools of care for the co-creation of knowledge in sociological research
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.sidebar##
Published
22-04-2026
Brenda Mondragón Toledo
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8035-5498
Abstract
This article analyses how textile-making practices, employed as methodological tools in online feminist textile workshops, enables practices of care and the co-creation of knowledge around the understanding of gender-based violence. The fieldwork was conducted between 2022 and 2023 in a digital space that emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, through online textile workshops with participants in Mexico and Ireland. The study is situated within feminist sociology and gender studies, using a qualitative methodology that combines arts-based research and digital ethnography with a feminist ethics of care. The analysis shows that textile-making, in both its material and relational dimensions, contributed to creating safe spaces for sharing experiences of gender-based violence, strengthening transnational connections and collective care practices. The article proposes understanding textile practices as technologies of care with epistemic potential, capable of producing situated knowledge and transforming the relationships among participants, the researcher, and textile materiality.
How to Cite
Mondragón Toledo, B. (2026). Textiles as methodological tools of care for the co-creation of knowledge in sociological research. Papeles De Identidad, 2026(1), papel 337. https://doi.org/10.1387/pceic.27892
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##
Keywords
textile practices, feminist research, feminist ethics of care, digital ethnography
References
Ardèvol, E., y Lanzeni, D. (2014). Visualidades y materialidades de lo digital: Caminos desde la antropología. Anthropologica, 32(33), 11-38.
Aguilar-Forero, N. (2017). Ciberactivismo y olas de agitación comunicativa: Consideraciones etnográficas. Íconos. Revista de Ciencias Sociales, 59, 123-148.
Baker, C. (2011). Prefacio. En G. Zavalloni (Ed.), La pedagogía del caracol (pp. 17-19). Graó.
Barrancos, D., Martin, A. L., y Valobra, A. M. (2019). Devenir feminista: Una trayectoria políticointelectual. CLACSO.
Clover, D. (2011). Successes and challenges of feminist arts-based participatory methodologies with homeless/street-involved women in Victoria. Action Research, 9(1), 12-26.
Corosio, A. (2007). La ética feminista: Más allá de la justicia. Revista Venezolana de Estudios de la Mujer, 12(28), 159-184.
De la Bellacasa, M. P. (2012). ‘Nothing comes without its world’: Thinking with care. The Sociological Review, 60(2), 197-216.
Esteban, M. L. (2017). Los cuidados, un concepto central en la teoría feminista: Aportaciones, riesgos y diálogos con la antropología. Quaderns-e de l’Institut Català d’Antropologia, 22(2), 33-48.
Glassman, M. (2020). The internet as a context for participatory action research. Education and Information Technologies, 25, 1-17.
Grosfoguel, R. (2016). Del extractivismo económico al extractivismo epistémico y al extractivismo ontológico: Una forma destructiva de conocer, ser y estar en el mundo. Tabula Rasa, 24, 125-143.
Harding, S. (1991). Whose science? Whose knowledge?: Thinking from women’s lives. Cornell University Press.
Harris, A. (2008). Young women, late modern politics, and the participatory possibilities of online cultures. Journal of Youth Studies, 11(5), 481-495.
Harrison, K., y Ogden, C. (2020). Knit «n» natter: A feminist methodological assessment of using creative «women’s work» in focus groups. Qualitative Research, 21(1), 1-17.
Hobart, H. J. K., y Kneese, T. (2020). Radical care: Survival strategies for uncertain times. Social Text, 38(1), 1-16.
Honoré, C. (2004). In praise of slow: How a worldwide movement is challenging the cult of speed. Orion.
Illia, L. (2003). Passage to cyberactivism: How dynamics of activism change. Journal of Public Affairs, 3(4), 326-337.
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. NYU Press.
Keller, J. M. (2012). Virtual feminisms: Girls’ blogging communities, feminist activism, and participatory politics. Information, Communication & Society, 15(3), 429-447.
Kouhia, A. (2023). Crafts in the time of coronavirus: Pandemic domestic crafting in Finland on Instagram’s COVID-related craft posts. M/C Journal, 26(6).
Lather, P. (1991). Getting smart: Feminist research and pedagogy with/in the postmodern. Routledge.
Levitan, J., Carr-Chellman, D., y Carr-Chellman, A. (2017). Accidental ethnography: A method for practitioner-based education research. Action Research, 18(3), 336-352.
Macón, C. (2014). Género, afectos y política: Lauren Berlant y la irrupción de un dilema. Debate Feminista, 49, 163-186.
Maffia, D. (2007). Epistemología feminista: La subversión semiótica de las mujeres en la ciencia. Revista Venezolana de Estudios de la Mujer, 12(28), 63-98.
Mason, J., y Davies, K. (2009). Coming to our senses? A critical approach to sensory methodology. Qualitative Research, 9(5), 587-603.
Mendes, K., Ringrose, J., y Keller, J. (2018). #MeToo and the promise and pitfalls of challenging rape culture through digital feminist activism. European Journal of Women’s Studies, 25(2), 236-246.
Méndez, M. J. (2023). Acuerpar: The decolonial feminist call for embodied solidarity. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 49(1), 37-61.
Mohanty, C. T., y Torres, L. (1991). Third world women and the politics of feminism. Indiana University Press.
Moreshead, A., y Salter, A. (2023). Craftivism in the time of COVID: Resisting toxic masculinity through feminized labor. Feminist Media Studies, 23(6), 3014-3030.
O’Neill, M., y Hubbard, P. (2010). Walking, sensing, belonging: Ethno-mimesis as performative praxis. Visual Studies, 25(1), 46-58.
O’Neill, M. (2014). The slow university: Work, time and well-being. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 15(3).
Oliveira, M. (2018). Investigar colectivamente para conocer y transformar. En X. Leyva Solano, J. Alonso y A. Hernández (Eds.), Prácticas otras de conocimiento(s): Entre crisis, entre guerras (Tomo III, pp. 105-124). Cooperativa Editorial RETOS.
Pérez-Bustos, T., Tobar-Roa, V., y Márquez-Gutiérrez, S. (2016). Etnografías de los contactos: Reflexiones feministas sobre el bordado como conocimiento. Antípoda. Revista de Antropología y Arqueología, 26, 1-22.
Pérez-Bustos, T., y Bello-Tocancipá, A. (2023). Thinking methodologies with textiles, thinking textiles as methodologies in the context of transitional justice. Qualitative Research, 24(5), 1121-1141.
Pink, S. et al. (2016). Digital ethnography: Principles and practice. SAGE.
Rendón, L. I. (2008). Sentipensante (sensing/thinking) pedagogy: Educating for wholeness, social justice and liberation. Stylus Publishing.
Sandoval-Almazán, R., y Gil-García, J. R. (2014). Towards cyberactivism 2.0? Understanding the use of social media and other information technologies for political activism and social movements. Government Information Quarterly, 31(3), 365-378.
Segato, R. (2016). Contra-pedagogías de la crueldad. Prometeo.
Stengers, I. (2018). Another science is possible: A manifesto for slow science. Polity Press.
Takayoshi, P. (1999). No boys allowed: The World Wide Web as a clubhouse for girls. Computers and Composition, 16(1), 89-106.
The Care Collective (2020). The care manifesto: The politics of interdependence. Verso.
Van de Donk, W. et al. (Eds.). (2004). Cyberprotest: New media, citizens and social movements. Routledge.
Aguilar-Forero, N. (2017). Ciberactivismo y olas de agitación comunicativa: Consideraciones etnográficas. Íconos. Revista de Ciencias Sociales, 59, 123-148.
Baker, C. (2011). Prefacio. En G. Zavalloni (Ed.), La pedagogía del caracol (pp. 17-19). Graó.
Barrancos, D., Martin, A. L., y Valobra, A. M. (2019). Devenir feminista: Una trayectoria políticointelectual. CLACSO.
Clover, D. (2011). Successes and challenges of feminist arts-based participatory methodologies with homeless/street-involved women in Victoria. Action Research, 9(1), 12-26.
Corosio, A. (2007). La ética feminista: Más allá de la justicia. Revista Venezolana de Estudios de la Mujer, 12(28), 159-184.
De la Bellacasa, M. P. (2012). ‘Nothing comes without its world’: Thinking with care. The Sociological Review, 60(2), 197-216.
Esteban, M. L. (2017). Los cuidados, un concepto central en la teoría feminista: Aportaciones, riesgos y diálogos con la antropología. Quaderns-e de l’Institut Català d’Antropologia, 22(2), 33-48.
Glassman, M. (2020). The internet as a context for participatory action research. Education and Information Technologies, 25, 1-17.
Grosfoguel, R. (2016). Del extractivismo económico al extractivismo epistémico y al extractivismo ontológico: Una forma destructiva de conocer, ser y estar en el mundo. Tabula Rasa, 24, 125-143.
Harding, S. (1991). Whose science? Whose knowledge?: Thinking from women’s lives. Cornell University Press.
Harris, A. (2008). Young women, late modern politics, and the participatory possibilities of online cultures. Journal of Youth Studies, 11(5), 481-495.
Harrison, K., y Ogden, C. (2020). Knit «n» natter: A feminist methodological assessment of using creative «women’s work» in focus groups. Qualitative Research, 21(1), 1-17.
Hobart, H. J. K., y Kneese, T. (2020). Radical care: Survival strategies for uncertain times. Social Text, 38(1), 1-16.
Honoré, C. (2004). In praise of slow: How a worldwide movement is challenging the cult of speed. Orion.
Illia, L. (2003). Passage to cyberactivism: How dynamics of activism change. Journal of Public Affairs, 3(4), 326-337.
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. NYU Press.
Keller, J. M. (2012). Virtual feminisms: Girls’ blogging communities, feminist activism, and participatory politics. Information, Communication & Society, 15(3), 429-447.
Kouhia, A. (2023). Crafts in the time of coronavirus: Pandemic domestic crafting in Finland on Instagram’s COVID-related craft posts. M/C Journal, 26(6).
Lather, P. (1991). Getting smart: Feminist research and pedagogy with/in the postmodern. Routledge.
Levitan, J., Carr-Chellman, D., y Carr-Chellman, A. (2017). Accidental ethnography: A method for practitioner-based education research. Action Research, 18(3), 336-352.
Macón, C. (2014). Género, afectos y política: Lauren Berlant y la irrupción de un dilema. Debate Feminista, 49, 163-186.
Maffia, D. (2007). Epistemología feminista: La subversión semiótica de las mujeres en la ciencia. Revista Venezolana de Estudios de la Mujer, 12(28), 63-98.
Mason, J., y Davies, K. (2009). Coming to our senses? A critical approach to sensory methodology. Qualitative Research, 9(5), 587-603.
Mendes, K., Ringrose, J., y Keller, J. (2018). #MeToo and the promise and pitfalls of challenging rape culture through digital feminist activism. European Journal of Women’s Studies, 25(2), 236-246.
Méndez, M. J. (2023). Acuerpar: The decolonial feminist call for embodied solidarity. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 49(1), 37-61.
Mohanty, C. T., y Torres, L. (1991). Third world women and the politics of feminism. Indiana University Press.
Moreshead, A., y Salter, A. (2023). Craftivism in the time of COVID: Resisting toxic masculinity through feminized labor. Feminist Media Studies, 23(6), 3014-3030.
O’Neill, M., y Hubbard, P. (2010). Walking, sensing, belonging: Ethno-mimesis as performative praxis. Visual Studies, 25(1), 46-58.
O’Neill, M. (2014). The slow university: Work, time and well-being. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 15(3).
Oliveira, M. (2018). Investigar colectivamente para conocer y transformar. En X. Leyva Solano, J. Alonso y A. Hernández (Eds.), Prácticas otras de conocimiento(s): Entre crisis, entre guerras (Tomo III, pp. 105-124). Cooperativa Editorial RETOS.
Pérez-Bustos, T., Tobar-Roa, V., y Márquez-Gutiérrez, S. (2016). Etnografías de los contactos: Reflexiones feministas sobre el bordado como conocimiento. Antípoda. Revista de Antropología y Arqueología, 26, 1-22.
Pérez-Bustos, T., y Bello-Tocancipá, A. (2023). Thinking methodologies with textiles, thinking textiles as methodologies in the context of transitional justice. Qualitative Research, 24(5), 1121-1141.
Pink, S. et al. (2016). Digital ethnography: Principles and practice. SAGE.
Rendón, L. I. (2008). Sentipensante (sensing/thinking) pedagogy: Educating for wholeness, social justice and liberation. Stylus Publishing.
Sandoval-Almazán, R., y Gil-García, J. R. (2014). Towards cyberactivism 2.0? Understanding the use of social media and other information technologies for political activism and social movements. Government Information Quarterly, 31(3), 365-378.
Segato, R. (2016). Contra-pedagogías de la crueldad. Prometeo.
Stengers, I. (2018). Another science is possible: A manifesto for slow science. Polity Press.
Takayoshi, P. (1999). No boys allowed: The World Wide Web as a clubhouse for girls. Computers and Composition, 16(1), 89-106.
The Care Collective (2020). The care manifesto: The politics of interdependence. Verso.
Van de Donk, W. et al. (Eds.). (2004). Cyberprotest: New media, citizens and social movements. Routledge.
Section
Temitas
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The contents of Papeles de Identidad are distributed, since 2024, under the license Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
You are free to:
- copy, distribute and publicly communicate the work
Under the following conditions:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
- NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
Understanding that:
- Waiver — Some of these conditions may not apply if permission is obtained from the copyright holder.
- Public Domain — Where the work or any element of the work is in the public domain under applicable law, this is not affected by the license.
- Other rights — The following rights are not affected by the license in any way:
- Rights arising from lawful uses or other limitations recognized by law are not affected by the foregoing.
- The moral rights of the author;
- Rights that may be held by others in the work itself or its use, such as image or privacy rights.
- Notice — When reusing or distributing the work, you must make clear the terms of the license of this work.
The author may make free use of his/her article, always indicating that the text has been published in Papeles de Identidad since the University of the Basque Country retains the copyright. Any re-publication of the article must be, as well, authorized by the journal.