ABSTRACT

A central tenet in the conduct of community-based participatory research is the establishment of an allyship between researchers and other actors, a relation that ideally should be reciprocal in nature. In theory, true allyship would stand for a mutual search for understanding and potential transformation of life circumstances through investigation and argumentation, in the absence of coercive force or preset boundaries. However, in practice, researchers often behave as privileged guests that enter a particular local reality at predefined moments in time and leave when they are satisfied with what they got. We critically reflected on the challenge of developing equitable and sustainable relationships that cut across time-space dimensions of collective engagement and action in community-based research. We offer a critique of the project-based logic of participatory research practice and how this may unwittingly affirm actions that work against the concept of true allyship. We advocate for the creation of a ‘third sphere’ that unfolds itself as an experimental laboratory for constructive and disruptive thought, wherein every stakeholder is equally subjected to the centripetal force of meeting each other in the middle. This increases the likelihood that unanticipated and new ways of thinking and acting will emerge from the collective.

摘要

开展基于社区的参与式研究的一个核心原则是在研究人员和其他参与者之间建立联盟，理想情况下，这种关系应该是互惠的。从理论上讲，真正的盟友将代表在没有强制力或预设界限的情况下，通过调查和论证，相互寻求理解和生活环境的潜在转变。然而，在实践中，研究人员经常表现得像特权客人一样，在预定的时间进入特定的当地现实，并在他们对所得到的东西感到满意时离开。我们批判性地反思了在基于社区的研究中跨越集体参与和行动的时空维度发展公平和可持续关系的挑战。我们对参与式研究实践的基于项目的逻辑提出了批评，以及这如何在不知不觉中肯定了违背真正盟友概念的行动。我们主张创建一个“第三领域”，它作为建设性和破坏性思想的实验实验室展开，其中每个利益相关者都平等地受到在中间相遇的向心力的影响。这增加了从集体中出现意想不到的新思维和行动方式的可能性。其中每个利益相关者都同样受到中间相遇的向心力的影响。这增加了从集体中出现意想不到的新思维和行动方式的可能性。其中每个利益相关者都同样受到中间相遇的向心力的影响。这增加了从集体中出现意想不到的新思维和行动方式的可能性。