“I Am What You Make Me. I Am Who I Am” Self-reflection and self-expression in a cross-cultural youth media project in the United Kingdom and South Africa

The growing accessibility of digital technologies has led to an increase in media projects enabling young people to connect and communicate with international peers. These projects are often uncritically celebrated as opportunities for young people to learn something about a cultural “Other” and, in so doing, enhance their tolerance of difference, their consciousness of global issues, and their appreciation of diversity. Projects conceptualised in this way, however, risk reinforcing problematic notions of multiculturalism. This article describes the Durban Plymouth Story Exchange, a youth media project facilitated by the author. The project attempted to use the creation and exchange of audio recordings between young people in Durban, South Africa and Plymouth, UK to encourage self-reflection, self-expression and cultural learning. By putting knowledge of self rather than knowledge of the Other at the centre of this project, the author/facilitator hoped the project would avoid some of the pitfalls of conventional multiculturalism.