“Beyond the Prison Gate”: Exploring Recognition through Photography with Former Political Prisoners in Myanmar

Summary, in English

This article argues that imprisonment is a liminal experience and that recognitionis needed to establish a new social status to enable parity of participation afterone’s release. The article builds on photographic action research done with fourformer political prisoners in Myanmar, and analyzes three of the photos from theproject and the process of creating and exhibiting photos. The article shows howformer prisoners experience prolonged liminality, and it argues that recognitionand access to parity of participation are key to prevent such prolonged liminalityand to offer redress for the injustice and misrecognition that former political pris-oners experienced.