Participatory research has a predominantly transformative and social justice concern. This article goes beyond the moral imperative of participatory research to address its potential to account for human action, the subject matter of social science research, through accessing its intentionality and sociality, and accounting for the complex and interactive nature of behavior. Two of the core principles of participatory research (participation and accessing local knowledge) are articulated in relation to dialogism and dialectics. The interpretive potential of the dialectical relationship between empathy and distanciation is discussed and illustrated in the novel visualization approaches in participatory learning and action. The article concludes with a critical discussion of the conflation of social justice concerns with claims to validity. It is argued that participatory research approaches enhance validity because they address the participative, social and relational nature of human action.
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