Thank you for this important work, which provides a solid theoretical
and historical foundation for a DCR approach to participatory research
in the Global South (and beyond). I'm looking forward to citing this
work, enacting it within my own research, and using it in my methodologies
courses with graduate students. I readily see how this book will
contribute to the emerging but sparse literature that is striving to
move participatory research away from the confines of western
epistemologies and methods.
Prof Christine Rogers Stanton,
Montana State University
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.
Democratising Participatory Research: Pathways to Social Justice from the South
Carmen Martinez-Vargas | January 2022
260pp. | 9 colour illustrations | 6.14" x 9.21" (234 x 156 mm)
ISBN Paperback: 9781800643086
ISBN Hardback: 9781800643093
ISBN Digital (PDF): 9781800643109
ISBN Digital ebook (epub): 9781800643116
ISBN Digital ebook (mobi): 9781800643123
ISBN Digital (XML): 9781800643130
DOI: 10.11647/OBP.0273
BIC
subject codes: KCR (Welfare economics), KCP (Political economy), JHBC
(Social research and statistics), JHBL (Sociology: work and labour), HPS
(Social and political philosophy), HPQ (Ethics and moral philosophy), HBTR (National liberation and independence, post-colonialism);
BISAC: SOC045000 (Social Science / Poverty & Homelessness),
SOC053000 (Social Science / Regional Studies), SOC050000 (Social Science
/ Social Classes & Economic Disparity), POL024000 (Political
Science / Public Policy / Economic Policy), POL029000 (Political Science
/ Public Policy / Social Policy), POL045000 (POLITICAL SCIENCE / Colonialism & Post-Colonialism). OCLC Number: 1296677389.
Acronyms
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction Download
Carmen Martinez-Vargas
2. Coloniality and Decoloniality in the Global South Higher-Education Context Download
Carmen Martinez-Vargas
3. Traditions and Limitations of Participatory Research Download
Carmen Martinez-Vargas
4. Democratising Participatory Research: A Capabilitarian Conceptualisation Download
Carmen Martinez-Vargas
5. Co-Researchers’ Valued Capabilities Download
Carmen Martinez-Vargas
6. The South African DCR Project: Undergraduates as Researchers Download
Carmen Martinez-Vargas
7. Broadening Our Participatory Evaluations: A Southern Capabilitarian Perspective Download
Carmen Martinez-Vargas
8. DCR for Socially Just Higher Education: Perspectives from the South Download
Carmen Martinez-Vargas
9. Redrawing Our Epistemic Horizon Download
Carmen Martinez-Vargas
List of Figures
List of Tables
Index
© 2021 Carmen Martinez-Vargas.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (CC
BY-NC-ND 4.0). This license allows you to share, copy, distribute and
transmit the work for non-commercial purposes, providing attribution is
made to the author (but not in any way that suggests that he endorses
you or your use of the work). Attribution should include the following information:
Carmen Martinez-Vargas.
Democratising Participatory Research: Pathways to Social Justice from the South. Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers, 2021.
https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0273
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