This article reviews and critiques an ethical strategy of minimizing social difference between researcher and child in participatory research with children, and drawing on fieldwork, presents an alternative strategy of minimizing social distance. The author argues that an ethical strategy of minimizing social distance between researcher and research subject(s) (1) enables the constitution of difference in relationship, (2) lends research subjects autonomy to contribute to the research relationship, design, and process, and (3) makes ethics central to the project’s implementation, not merely its design. The author advocates for increased methodological conversations across disciplines toward furthering ethical participatory research with children.
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