Abstract
When Lepore, Hall, and Tandon gave their book the subtitle, “Rebalancing Power in the Co-Construction of Knowledge” they were being deliberately provocative in asking if power can ever be balanced in our current educational and economic system. Their answer is a tentative yes, but it isn’t easy. This edited collection goes a long way to demonstrating how community-university research partnerships (CURP) have been trying to rebalance power through mutual engagement. Bridging Knowledge Cultures includes 10 case studies of CURP hubs established through the global Knowledge for Change (K4C) Consortium, of which the editors and writers are a part. The K4C has 22 CURP hubs (each includes a higher education institute and a community organization) in 10 countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Uganda, and Tanzania. The research was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the University of Victoria, and Participatory Research in Asia and is one of a series of research projects undertaken by these researchers in support of co-construction of knowledge (e.g., Tandon et al., 2016).
The lead editors are Walter Lepore, Professor and Research Director for the UNESCO Chair in Community-Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education, and former coordinator of the K4C, Rajesh Tandon, and Budd Hall. Tandon and Hall are co-holders of the UNESCO chair which established the K4C and they helped to found and build the participatory action research movement over the years. These three editors understand the inner and outer workings of universities and communities, and with this global project demonstrate how CURP helps balance power and facilitates the flow of information back and forth between these seemingly disparate entities.
There are many interesting case studies in this book. Chapter 12 on the Salish Sea Hub in coastal British Columbia addresses the First Nations-university divide that communities like mine confront daily. The Hub provides undergraduate training in community-based and indigenous research methods, to support sustainable development goals (SDGs) for quality education (SDG4), gender justice (SDG5), and reduced inequality (SDG10). The Hub, which includes the University of Victoria and the Victoria Native Friendship Centre, works to increase Indigenous self-determination and rights and helps build capacity for “research and training in support of these rights” (p. 256). Students in this course learn to be attentive listeners and learners and to work directly with people in community. Yet, there are challenges: the course is university based and developed, and many of the relationships developed within it end with the semester. Yet, the hub attempts to address power imbalances in a real-life setting by offering the class. Many of us in adult education want these kinds of community partnerships and find inspiration in how they were actioned in an academic setting.
Another key hub involved the Maasai village leaders in Arusha, Northern Tanzania (Chapter 9). The project involves recognizable community-based research methods such as holding local meetings and group discussions, doing interviews, taking videos and photos, and making observations as a way to understand Maasai's traditional technologies of water management. This hub focuses on SDG4 (quality education) and SDG13 (climate action). The writers point out that along with the university and nongovernmental organizations learning about intergenerational skills, the Maasai learn about equal opportunity and gender-inclusive practices. The lesson in all these cases is that focusing on learning through offering classes, engaging in participatory research practices, and facilitating conversations are concrete ways to rebalance power.
At times, I struggled to sort the development jargon in the cases (e.g., SDGs, K4C, and CURP), but in the end, I was pleased to have a deeper insight into a research process that extends adult education in higher education settings to the community, creating a space that increases access, knowledge mobilization and mutual insight between partners who are increasingly isolated from each other. The questions raised by this book are numerous, such as how to extend this bridging activity to other sites so that we come to fully appreciate knowledge built outside higher education. For those of us in university settings, this is a tough challenge that calls for action such as recognizing prior learning and validating community knowledge. I would recommend this book to adult educators who study power and who want to bridge the university-community divide, even if the struggle is considerable. Bridging Knowledge Cultures has research, methodology, and practical implications, and is well worth the read.
