Participatory action research and the challenges of knowledge democracy

ABSTRACT

Participatory action research investigates the living and working conditions of people by actively involving them in the research process and thus broadening their horizons and empowering them to improve their situation. The radical idea of knowledge democracy is to recognize and respect the existing knowledge and epistemologies of traditional communities, ethnic tribes, socially marginalized groups and grass roots movements as valuable resources, essential for the comprehensive understanding required to find solutions to complex local as well as global problems. Nevertheless, the question arises whether science and alternative knowledges really are compatible and on an equal footing? Is science not superior to all other knowledge systems? On the other hand, is science and its exclusive claim to rationality and universalism not the back side of the colonial project of ‘epistemicide’ – the subjugation and eradication of all traditional knowledges worldwide? Do not some of these knowledges offer ways of thinking that are valuable and eye-opening but inaccessible to science? Well known examples of a fruitful dialogue between different epistemologies are ethnobotany, complementary medicine and ethnomathematics. Knowledge democracy means appreciative exchange of different perspectives which through collaboration and partnership between local people and researchers can lead to sustainable solutions of complex problems, more self-consciousness and emancipation from social constraints.

KEYWORDS:

• Knowledge democracy
• community development
• alternative knowledges
• participatory action research
• epistemology
• third space

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. As an example, de Sousa Santos (2007a) mentions that for indigenous people rivers are sacred and must be saved in case of an impending catastrophe. For scientists, such a view is pure superstition. How can a river be ‘saved’, if it has neither body nor consciousness? On the other hand, business corporations or banks do not have body or consciousness either, and nevertheless thousands of economic scientists beat their brains how to save them in a financial crisis. Contradictions like that ought to be tackled by thinking and acting subversively, both in science and politics.

2. The Center suffered a disastrous arson attack earlier this year, with evidence suggesting the perpetrators were white supremacists seeking to disrupt its ongoing social-justice work. See Kelley, R.D.G & Themba, M. (2019). Why the Highlander Attack Matters. New York: The Nation 12-4-2019. (https://www.thenation.com/article/highlander-attack-arson-racism/).

3. For example, The Office of Research Integrity (ORI) (https://ori.hhs.gov/) was founded in the US in 1992.

4. Malala Yousafzai is an interesting example of South-North intercultural cooperation. Her advocacy of girls’ rights to school education after the Taliban closed down non-religious schools in Pakistan’s Swat valley led to a terrorist commando group ambushing her school bus and trying to assassinate her. After recovering from her wounds in a British hospital, she became the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and was appointed a UN ambassador for global education. She supports international and local literacy campaigns and initiatives to offer vocational training for girls, and, in 2015, she inaugurated a school for Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Her motto ‘books not bullets’ and her public demands that access to education must be guaranteed for everybody as a key to equal rights and emancipation have inspired governmental and non-governmental educational endeavours all over the world (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malala_Yousafzai).