Democratising participatory research : : pathways to social justice from the south / / Carmen Martinez Vargas.

• VerfasserIn: Martinez-Vargas, Carmen,
• Place / Publishing House: Cambridge, UK : : Open Book Publishers,, 2022.
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (260 pages)

In this book Carmen Martinez-Vargas explores how academic participatory research and the way it is carried out can contribute to more, or less, social justice. Adopting theoretical and empirical approaches, and addressing multiple complex, intersectional issues, this book offers inspiration for scholars and practitioners to open up alternative pathways to social justice, viewed through a Global South lens. Martinez-Vargas examines the colonial roots of research and emphasises the importance of problematising current practices and limitations in order to establish more just and democratic participatory research practices. Although practitioners have been challenging the Western roots of research and participatory research for decades, their goals can be compromised by pluralities and contradictions in the field. This book aims not to replicate past participatory research approaches, but to offer an innovative theoretical foundation--the Capabilities Approach--and an innovative participatory practice called 'Democratic Capabilities Research'. Democratising Participatory Research is not only timely and relevant in South Africa, but also in the Global North owing to the current crisis of values jeopardising the peaceful existence of diverse societies. The book gives essential recommendations for capabilities and human development scholars to reframe their perspectives and uses of the Capabilities Approach, as well as for participatory practitioners to critically reflect on their practices and their often limited conceptualisation of participation.

Table of Contents

Acronyms -- Acknowledgements -- 1. Introduction / Carmen Martinez-Vargas -- 2. Coloniality and Decoloniality in the Global South Higher-Education Context / Carmen Martinez-Vargas -- 3. Traditions and Limitations of Participatory Research / Carmen Martinez-Vargas -- 4. Democratising Participatory Research: A Capabilitarian Conceptualisation / Carmen Martinez-Vargas -- 5. Co-Researchers' Valued Capabilities / Carmen Martinez-Vargas -- 6. The South African DCR Project: Undergraduates as Researchers / Carmen Martinez-Vargas -- 7. Broadening Our Participatory Evaluations: A Southern Capabilitarian Perspective / Carmen Martinez-Vargas -- 8. DCR for Socially Just Higher Education: Perspectives from the South / Carmen Martinez-Vargas -- 9. Redrawing Our Epistemic Horizon / Carmen Martinez-Vargas -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Index.