Participatory Action Research Approaches and Methods: Connecting People, Participation and Place

287 Pages·2007·2.84 MB·English

by  Sara Kindon

Participatory Action Research
Approaches and Methods
ParticipatoryActionResearch(PAR)approachesandmethodshaveseenanexplo-
sion of recent interest in the social and environmental sciences. PAR involves
collaborativeresearch,educationandactionorientedtowardssocialchange,repre-
sentingamajorepistemologicalchallengetomainstreamresearchtraditions.Ithas
recently been the subject of heated critique and debate, and rapid theoretical and
methodologicaldevelopment.
Thisbookcapturesthesedevelopments,exploringthejustification,theorisation,
practiceandimplicationsofPAR.Itoffersacriticalintroductiontounderstanding
and working with PAR in different social, spatial and institutional contexts. The
authorsengagewithPAR’sradicalpotential,whilemaintainingacriticalawareness
ofitschallengesanddangers.PartIexplorestheintellectual,ethicalandpragmatic
contexts of PAR; the development and diversity of approaches to PAR; recent
poststructuralistperspectivesonPARasaformofpower;theethicsofparticipation;
andissuesofsafetyandwell-being.PartIIisacriticalexplorationofthepolitics,
places and practices of PAR, exploring methods including diagramming, carto-
graphies,art,theatre,photovoice,videoandgeographicalinformationsystemsare
alsodiscussed.PartIIIreflectsonhoweffectivePARis,includingtheanalysisofits
products and processes, participatory learning, representation and dissemination,
institutional benefits and challenges, and working between research, action,
activismandchange.
Theauthorsfindthataspatialperspectiveandanattentiontoscaleofferhelpful
meansofnegotiatingthepotentialsandparadoxesofPAR.Thebookaddssignifi-
cantweighttotherecentcriticalreappraisalofPAR,suggestingwhy,when,where
and how we might take forward PAR’s commitment to enabling collaborative
socialtransformation.Itwillbeparticularlyusefultoresearchersandstudentsof
Human Geography, Development Studies and Sociology.
SaraKindonisaSeniorLecturerinHumanGeographyandDevelopmentStudies
atVictoriaUniversityofWellington,AotearoaNewZealand.
RachelPainisasocialgeographeratDurhamUniversityintheUK.
MikeKesbyisaLecturerinHumanGeographyattheUniversityofStAndrews,
Scotland,UK.
Routledge Studies in Human Geography
This series provides a forum for innovative, vibrant, and critical debate within
HumanGeography.Titleswillreflectthewealthofresearchwhichistakingplace
in this diverse and ever-expanding field. Contributions will be drawn from the
mainsub-disciplinesandfrominnovativeareasofworkwhichhavenoparticular
sub-disciplinary allegiances.
Published:
1. A Geography of Islands 7. Rural Poverty
Small island insularity Marginalisation and exclusion in
Stephen A. Royle Britain and the United States
Paul Milbourne
2. Citizenships, Contingency and
the Countryside 8. Poverty and the Third Way
Rights, culture, land and the Colin C. Williams and
environment Jan Windebank
Gavin Parker
9. Ageing and Place
3. The Differentiated Countryside Edited by Gavin J. Andrews and
Jonathan Murdoch, Philip Lowe, David R. Phillips
Neil Ward and Terry Marsden
10. Geographies of Commodity
4. The Human Geography of East Chains
Central Europe Edited by Alex Hughes and
David Turnock Suzanne Reimer
5. Imagined Regional Communities 11. Queering Tourism
Integration and sovereignty in the Paradoxical performances at gay
Global South pride parades
James D Sidaway Lynda T. Johnston
6. Mapping Modernities 12. Cross-Continental Food Chains
Geographies of Central and Edited by Niels Fold and
Eastern Europe 1920–2000 Bill Pritchard
Alan Dingsdale
13. Private Cities 21. China on the Move
Edited by Georg Glasze, Chris Migration, the state, and the
Webster and Klaus Frantz household
C. Cindy Fan
14. Global Geographies of Post
Socialist Transition 22. Participatory Action Research
Tassilo Herrschel Approaches and Methods
Connecting people, participation
15. Urban Development in Post- and place
Reform China Sara Kindon, Rachel Pain and
Fulong Wu, Jiang Xu and Mike Kesby
Anthony Gar-On Yeh
Not yet published:
16. Rural Governance
International perspectives 23. Time Space Compression
Edited by Lynda Cheshire, Historical geographies
Vaughan Higgins and Barney Warf
Geoffrey Lawrence
24. International Migration and
17. Global Perspectives on Rural Knowledge
Childhood and Youth Allan Williams and Vladimir Balaz
Young rural lives
Edited by Ruth Panelli, Samantha 25. Design Economies and the
Punch, and Elsbeth Robson Changing World Economy
Innovation, production and
18. World City Syndrome competitiveness
Neoliberalism and inequality in John Bryson and Grete Rustin
Cape Town
David A. McDonald 26. Whose Urban Renaissance?
An international comparison of
19. Exploring Post Development urban regeneration policies
Aram Ziai Libby Porter and Katie Shaw
20. Family Farms 27. Tourism Geography
Harold Brookfield and A new synthesis, second edition
Helen Parsons Stephen Williams
Frontispiece I am here. Self Portrait is about who you are. Who you are is what you
believeyouare.It’sme,GabyKitoko.I’mherereadytoact.Neverdoubt–
wecanmakeadifferencetogether(Credit:GabyKitokoforMedia19/Self
Portrait Refugee).
Participatory Action Research
Approaches and Methods
Connecting people, participation and place
Edited by
Sara Kindon, Rachel Pain
and Mike Kesby
First published 2007 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2007 Editorial selection and matter, Sara Kindon, Rachel Pain and Mike
Kesby; individual chapters, the contributors
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Participatory action research approaches and methods : connecting people,
participation, and place / [edited] by Sara Kindon, Rachel Pain and Mike
Kesby.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Social participation—Research—Methodology. 2. Political
participation—Research—Methodology. 3. Communities—Research—
Methodology. I. Kindon, Sara Louise. II. Pain, Rachel. III. Kesby,
Mike, 1966–
HM711.P37 2007
302'.1401—dc22 2007024739
ISBN 0-203-93367-2 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10: 0-415-40550-5 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0-203-93367-2 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-40550-8 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-203-93367-1 (ebk)
We dedicate this book to Janet Townsend to honour her work in
pioneeringfeminist andparticipatoryapproachesinGeography,
andtoacknowledgetheprofoundimpactsofhercriticalintellect
andgentlemanneronourownthinkingandpractice.

Contents
Listofboxes xiii
Listoffigures xv
Listofplates xvi
Notesoncontributors xvii
Foreword xxiii
Acknowledgements xxv
1 Introduction:connectingpeople,participationandplace 1
SARAKINDON,RACHELPAINANDMIKEKESBY
PART I
Reflection 7
2 ParticipatoryActionResearch:origins,approachesandmethods 9
SARAKINDON,RACHELPAINANDMIKEKESBY
3 Participation as a form of power: retheorising empowerment and
spatialisingParticipatoryActionResearch 19
MIKEKESBY,SARAKINDONANDRACHELPAIN
4 Participatory Action Research: making a difference to theory,
practiceandaction 26
RACHELPAIN,SARAKINDONANDMIKEKESBY
5 Towardaparticipatoryethics 33
LYNNEC.MANZOANDNATHANBRIGHTBILL
6 ParticipatoryActionResearchandresearchersafety 41
MAGSADAMSANDGEMMAMOORE