Participatory Research A New Paradigm of Development or Subjection?

Abstract

Participatory Research (PR) is defined as a collaborative process of research, education and action concerned with social transformation. Various strands of participatory and action research approaches have been practised since the mid-1940s. PR involves researchers and participants working together to examine a problematic situation or action to change it for the better. Participatory research is rapidly becoming a leading paradigm within the social and environmental sciences that believe it enables local people to directly voice their concerns without mediation by an outside expert. However, critics argue that participatory researchers often re-authorise themselves as new experts of participation, rather than truly handing over authority, thus, PR formulates a new kind of subjection. Against this backdrop, our article examines the opportunities and limitations of Participatory Action Research (PAR). We argue that PAR encounters conventional research approaches where the outside researcher sets the agenda, decides on the questions to be asked and implements the interview or questionnaire survey for later analysis. By emphasizing shared learning, shared knowledge, and flexible collaborative analysis, participatory methods and techniques deployed a process of transformative reflexivity in which both researchers and participants reflect on their (mis)understandings and negotiate the meanings of the information generated together. This article, in spite of some pitfalls, labels this new trend as a radical paradigm shift towards a new developmental knowledge.