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Abstract

This article extends the critical turn in participatory research with children by developing critical encounters as a lens to analyse how participation is constituted and constrained in practice. Drawing on two doctoral projects in Belgium, it examines moments of institutional friction, methodological tension, and positional negotiation. These encounters make visible the affective and material relations through which participation unfolds. In dialogue with feminist and decolonial perspectives, the article conceptualises co-research with children as a situated and ethically demanding practice of knowledge-making: one that requires attentiveness to silence, uncertainty, and the societal and institutional structures shaping research relations.

Keywords

childhood studies participatory research critical encounters feminist theory decolonial approaches materiality situated knowledge

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Co-producing knowledge through critical encounters: Extending the critical turn in participatory research with children

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