Glossary

Successful collaboration begins with a shared language, hence the need for a glossary. This joint effort of contributors from several teams ensures, on the one hand, terminological and conceptual coherence across not only our theoretical approaches, but also the qualitative case studies and quantitative research conducted in OPPORTUNITIES. On the other hand, our glossary facilitates communication between the academic side of the project and the fieldwork conducted by NGOs, uniting our teams working from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ghana, Italy, Mauritania, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and Senegal.

For more information about the Structure and Objectives of the Glossary, click here...)

Experience

 In a broad sense, the word experience refers to any mental state of which one is aware. Perception, bodily sensations, memory, and the imagination involve experience insofar as these mental activities emerge in conscious awareness. That is the sense in which the word is employed in fields such as the philosophy of mind, phenomenology, and cognitive psychology. A more specific use of the term experience, which also overlaps with everyday language, denotes any event that leaves a mark on an individual’s identity and sense of self. When something happens that brings into play an individual’s or a group’s worldview at a deep level, and potentially reshapes their personal and collective identity, it becomes an experience. Because of their experiential impact, these events are likely to display a high degree of tellability.

⇢ see also: Experiential storytelling, Life story, Narrative identity, Tellability

References and further reading:

Pollio, Howard R.; Henley, Tracy B. and Thompson, Craig J. 1997. The Phenomenology of Everyday Life: Empirical Investigations of Human Experience. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Category: A

Work Package: 2, 3, 5, 6, 7

[MC]

 

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