Rapport à l’exil

The main focus of Participatory Action Research is that it upends power relations by using those with least power to solve problems in the local situational context (Somekh, 2006; Ger, 1997).

This democratic approach (Reason and Bradbury, 2001) facilitates social action (Fals-Borda and Rahman, 1991; McNiff and Whitehead, 2006; Somekh, 2006); action that is able to continuously evolve due to research participants being given a voice (Gaventa and Cornwall, 2001; Herr and Anderson, 2005), and thus being the locus of change (Ozanne and Saatcioglu, 2008). In this way, Participatory Action Research helps people (Murray and Ozanne, 1991; Ozanne and Saatcioglu, 2008) to change their behaviours (Ozanne and Saatcioglu, 2008) through empowerment, so more than just the local social context is affected (Ger, 1997; Reason and Bradbury, 2001). When this occurs, there is the potential to build theories at the same time as solving problems (Brinberg and Hirschman, 1986). Taking stock of participants’ ideas and views is the starting point for the transformation process (Somekh, 2006). Coupled with the development of new skills and capacities on a human level (Ger, 1997), the ideology of Participatory Action Research can be successfully realised.

According to Greenwood (1993 p175) “Participatory Action Research is a form of Action Research in which professional social researchers operate as full collaborators with members of organisations in studying and transforming those organisations. It is an on-going organizational learning process, a research approach that emphasises co-learning, participation and organizational transformation”. Committed to achieving goals and making assumptions related to micro- and macro-structures (Ozanne and Saatcioglu, 2008), Participatory Action Research involves participants in every stage of the research process. Utilising insider knowledge (critiquing local practices etc.) and developing trusting relationships (Arnould and Wallendorf, 1994) ensures that Participatory Action Research is truly a collaborative process (Reason and Bradbury, 2001).

However, biases associated with insider knowledge may first be removed (Ozanne and Saatcioglu, 2008, and Chambers, 1983, point out that Participatory Action Research practitioners do this by integrating academic theory with local expertise and knowledge). Ensuring that this takes place in an environment that does not constrain participant awareness and potential (see Fals-Borda, 2001), maybe utilising cross-disciplinary teams and a cyclical process of reflection and action (Murray and Ozanne, 1991), means that local investment in the application of research findings is likely to take place (Reason and Bradbury, 2001) and research goals can be achieved. Inevitably, Participatory Action Research is a flexible and responsive process (Selener, 1997). However, there are criticisms of Participatory Action Research. Mohan and Stoke (2000) imply that Participatory Action Research may ignore power relations whilst Ozanne and Saatciogly (2008) highlight that participation is never politically neutral and organisational goals become the focus of the research.

The key components of Participatory Action Research include:

 a focus on change – commitment to participate with people to improve and understand the world by changing it (McIntyre, 2008) although there are differences between researchers as to the scale of that change and the degree to which it is focused on promoting democracy and reducing inequality;

 context-specific – it is generally targeted around the needs of a particular group although this can vary in size from small teams to projects encompassing entire communities;

 emphasis on collaboration – researchers and participants working together to examine a problematic situation or action to change it for the better, although there are differences in opinion as to how much collaboration is possible or necessary;

 a cyclical process – an iterative cycle of research, action and reflection (Kindon et al, 2006) underpins the research process although it is not always clear how this happens in practice;

 participants are competent and reflexive and capable of participating in the entire research process although researchers may adopt different standards as to the level of participation that qualifies as Participatory Action Research;

 knowledge is generated through participants’ collective efforts and actions;

 liberator – Participatory Action Research seeks to liberate participants to have a greater awareness of their situation in order to take action, although for some researchers the emphasis on liberation will be tempered;

 Participatory Action Research is not just another method – more an orientation to inquiry – this means that many different methods are possible (quantitative and qualitative);

 success is some personal or collective change – for some researchers it “depends on the credibility/validity of knowledge derived from the process according to whether the resulting action solves problems for the people involved and increases community self-determination” (Kindon et al, 2007 p14) but for others the emphasis is on developing theories and practices that can be shared.

In short there is a subtle but yet distinctive difference between Action Research with Participation and Participative Action Research. Both approaches maintain that participation is paramount to success and therefore the involvement of participants is a given, however, the semantic of how to involve both the Researcher and the Participant within each offers the distinction between the two.

In typical Action Research interventions the framework for change adopts a participative stance, ensuring that those who are affected by change are involved in exploring their situation, understanding their situation and identifying steps to improve their situation. In this context the researcher designs the intervention framework and observes both how the intervention process stands up whilst also examining the specific outcomes achieved. The Researcher does not directly participate (but may choose to do so) in the research intervention. Conversely, within Participatory Action Research, the Researcher engages directly with members of the organisation to study and transform the situations being explored and the participants. The participants not only engage in the process of transformation but also have a direct stake in the design of the transformation process.