Participatory action research (PAR) is a methodological stance that researchers can find both inspiring and daunting. Community-based PAR offers a platform by which social scientists can contribute to the democratization of knowledge and its production, but also requires that they go beyond conventional roles and procedures to interact with community co-researchers in ways that may leave university-based researchers feeling exposed and rudderless. In this article, the authors present episodes from three different PAR projects that illustrate some of the challenges that PAR presents for university-based researchers, as well as what can be learned from them.
Anzaldúa, G. ( 1987). Borderlands. San Francisco, CA: Aunt Lute Books.
2.
Benson, L., Harkavy, I., & Puckett, J. ( 2000). An implementation revolution as a strategy for fulfilling the democratic promise of university-community partnerships: Penn-West Philadelphia as an experiment in progress. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 29, 24-45.
3.
Brydon-Miller, M. ( 1997). Participatory action research: Psychology and social change. Journal of Social Issues, 53, 657-666.
4.
Collins, P.H. ( 1986). Learning from the outsider within. Social Problems, 33, 514-532).
5.
Fals-Borda, O. ( 1991). Remaking knowledge. In O. Fals-Borda, & M. A. Rahman (Eds.), Action and knowledge: Breaking the monopoly with participatory action research (pp. 146-166). New York: Apex.
6.
Fals-Borda, O., & Rahman, M.A. ( 1991). Action and knowledge: Breaking the monopoly with participatory action research. New York: Apex .
7.
Fine, M., & Barreras, R. ( 2007). To be of use. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 1, 175-183.
8.
Freire, P. ( 1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. London : Zed Books.
9.
Greene-Moton, E., Palermo, A., Flicker, S., & Travers, B. ( 2006). Unit 4: Trust and communication in a CBPR partnership: Spreading the glue and having it stick. Retrieved 6 December 2008, from the website of The Examining Community-Institutional Partnerships for Prevention Research Group at www.cbprcurriculum.info.
10.
Greenwood, D.J., Whyte, W.F., & Harkavy, I. ( 1993). Participatory action research as a process and as a goal . Human Relations, 46, 175-183.
11.
Herr, K., & Anderson, G. ( 2005). The action research dissertation. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
12.
hooks, b. (2000). Where we stand: Class matters. New York: Routledge.
13.
Lorde, A. ( 1984). Sister outsider: Essays and speeches. Berkeley, CA: The Crossing Press.
14.
Lykes, M.B. ( 1997). Activist participatory research among the Maya of Guatemala: Constructing meaning from situated knowledge. Journal of Social Issues, 53, 725-746.
15.
Maguire, P. ( 1987). Doing participatory research: A feminist approach. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts.
16.
Maguire, P. ( 1996). Considering more feminist participatory research: What’s congruency got to do with it? Qualitative Inquiry, 2, 106-118.
17.
McIntyre, A. ( 2000). Inner-city kids: Adolescents confront life and violence in an urban community. New York University Press: New York.
18.
Mohatt, G.V., Hazel, K.L., Allen, J., Stachelrodt, M., Hensel, C., & Fath, R. ( 2004). Unheard Alaska: Culturally anchored participatory action research on sobriety with Alaska Natives. American Journal of Community Psychology, 33, 263-273.
19.
Piercy, M. ( 1973). To be of use. New York: Doubleday.
20.
Prilleltensky, I. ( 1997). Values, assumptions, and practices: Assessing the moral implications of psychological discourse and action. American Psychologist, 52(5), 517-535.
21.
Prilleltensky, I. ( 2003). Understanding, resisting, and overcoming oppression: Toward a psychopolitical validity. American Journal of Community Psychology, 31, 195-201.
22.
Reardon, K.M. ( 1998). Enhancing the capacity of community-based organizations in east St Louis. Journal of Planning Education and Research , 17, 323-333.
23.
Reardon, K.M. ( 2000). An Experiential Approach to Creating an Effective Community-University Partnership: The East St. Louis Action Research Project. Cityscape , 5, 59-74.
24.
Reason, P., & Bradbury, H. (Eds.), (2006). Preface. In P. Reason, & H. Bradbury (Eds.), The action research handbook (pp. xxi-xxxii). London: SAGE.
25.
Schensul, J.J. ( 1999). Organizing community research partnerships in the struggle against AIDS. Health Education & Behavior, 26, 266-283.
26.
Smith, L., & Romero, L. ( 2010). Psychological interventions in the context of poverty: Practicing participatory action research. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 80, 12-25.
27.
Smith, L., Chambers, D., & Bratini, L. ( 2009). When oppression is the pathogen: The participatory development of socially-just mental health practice. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 79, 159-168.
28.
Smith, L.T. ( 1999). Decolonizing methodologies. New York : Zed Books.
29.
Torre, M.E., & Fine, M. ( 2005). Bar none: Extending affirmative action to higher education in prison. Journal of Social Issues, 61, 569-594.
30.
Wang, C.C., Cash, J.L., & Powers, L.S. ( 2000). Who knows the streets as well as the homeless? Promoting personal action and community through photovoice. Health Promotion Practice, 1, 81-89.
