Participatory Action Research (PAR)

PAR’s approach is influenced by collaboration, seeking justice and liberation, and “pay[ing] overt attention to the issue of empowerment” (Bortolin 2003, p.47). Empowerment is linked to critical theory, which “[holds] out the possibility that, through emancipation, groups such as Maori would take greater control over their own lives and humanity” (Smith 2012, 186). Community partners “shape their social environments, empower themselves, and affect change through the processes of collective knowledge and action” (Bortolin 2013, pp. 47-48). PAR can be seen as a way to process collective knowledge which has the possibility to turn into action or change.

PAR is deeply connected to understanding space, which helps us understand each other. In order to “affect change beyond the various sites and arenas of participatory inquiry,” PAR helps to conceptualize “local community concerns, the immediate and natural environments in which they are located, and ground up processes” (Kindon et.al 2007, p. 3). Since space is fundamentally tied to identity, PAR helps participants reflect on “wider structures and processes of inequality to effect change. It can also involve and alter spaces of empowerment and action, when it contributes to policy, social or personal transformation” ( p. 3). PAR is fundamentally political because it emphasizes the political choice to confront structural concerns through a democratic practice that includes participation from various constituents and stakeholders in communities and institutions (Torre et al. 2012, p.171). While PAR upholds ideas of democracy, democracy doesn’t necessarily exclude hierarchies.

There are inevitable power dynamics between the researcher/interviewer and participant/interviewee in any research. I intentionally chose to refer to the people I work with as partners rather than participants because this is not a study, but rather a co-exploration. As the main person who set out to gather the research and put together the project, I inevitably make some decisions without the consultation of my partners. They all hold various jobs and responsibilities and don’t have the capacity to be a part of every step of the process. This is a limitation of any research, including PAR, therefore, while the process is participatory in nature, final decisions about how information is presented are typically made by the study originator.