https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1746-7890
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Abstract
Recurrent economic, ecological and democratic crises provoke opportunities to critically examine previously unquestioned assumptions about economies, an effort which can include those people on which the theory and practice are usually designed and tested. This article claims that there is a role for participatory research (PR) approaches to play for social economists seeking to understand and support local problem-solving, especially in social economy activities and socioecological change processes. The objective of the article is twofold: first, a simple framework for understanding the different manifestations of PR will be presented based on the degree to which a project has (a) scientific or transformative goals, and (b) hierarchical or democratic decision-making. Second, this text will discuss the kind of PR that is ethically and epistemologically compatible with social economic scholarship. This theoretical argument is grounded in feminist, Black and Indigenous principles of (1) highlighting subjective and socially-embedded perspectives, (2) critically interrogating power dynamics within research contexts and processes, and (3) ethically engaging participants in collaborative research. Such an approach aims to dismantle the hierarchical binary between scientific and non-scientific knowledges, with social economists actively contributing to collective problem-solving efforts rather than acting as detached observers and planners.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 This is akin to Polanyi’s ([Citation1944] 2001) concept of the “double movement” in which society will inevitably mobilise to protect itself from economic shocks once the burden of excessive market liberalism becomes too great.
2 See Rowell et al. (Citation2017) for a detailed account of the history of action research.
3 Looking to the natural science literature we see the co-creation of knowledges, policy impact, community action and advocacy aims inherent within many environmental, climate change and sustainable development CS projects (e.g. European Commission Citation2018; Fraisl et al., Citation2020; Kelly et al., Citation2019; Pecl et al. Citation2019; Skarlatidou et al., Citation2022; Theobald et al., Citation2015; van Noordwijk et al., Citation2021).
4 This process is differently structured and described by various authors, for example: planning, executing and evaluating (Lewin, Citation1946); look, think, act (Stringer, Citation2007); plan, act, observe, reflect (Kemmis et al., Citation2013), and; observe, reflect, plan and act (O’Leary, Citation2004).
5 Which has often been sexist in intent or outcome, and therefore not objective.
6 Which may involve a physical location, but rather refers to a knowing subject who is always relative to others, multiple and mobile, and therefore not specifically located anywhere (Katz, Citation2001).
7 They propose the term “Tracking Science” as a universal human metaphor for observing, recognising, following and monitoring (“keeping track of”), based on the “hypothetico-deductive reasoning and experimentation that form the core of modern science” (p. 9). The question of whether this definition is applicable to other forms of reasoning, and interpretative social sciences in particular, highlights the problem with trying to determine universal terms in the first place.
8 These are: (1) citizen scientists performing varied but meaningful roles, (2) projects focused on a “genuine scientific outcome”, (3) mutual benefit, (4) options for participation in multiple research phases, (5) citizen scientists are informed of the results and how their data is used,(6) “citizen science provides opportunity for greater public engagement and democratisation of science”, (7) where possible and appropriate, project data is made publicly available and published as open access, (8) “Citizen scientists are acknowledged in project results and publications”, (9) CS projects are assessed based on their scientific quality, participant experience and wider societal impact, and (10) legal and ethical issues are carefully considered.
9 Most of the existing PR projects that track progress on SDG indicators relate to environmental monitoring and especially marine conservation.