Doing participatory action research in a racist world

Abstract

This exploration of the racial power dynamics in a participatory action research project with women who had experienced intimate partner violence discusses the challenges inherent in doing participatory action with antiracist intent and offers suggestions for overcoming these challenges. To engage in this type of research, explicit commitment to the goals of an antiracist intent needs to be shared as widely as possible. Fostering such shared commitment demands that the social locations of all involved be interrogated continuously. Such interrogation, however, needs to be prefaced with understanding that individuals are not representative of particular power positions or social identities or locations and with critical attention to how language and social structures shape racism and other forms of dominance. Being inclusive must be understood as complex and the influence of diverse agendas and perspectives acknowledged and taken into account. In the face of such complexity, "success" in research may need redefinition.