Knowledge Democracy
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://knowledgedemocracydspace.com/handle/123456789/1076
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Item Participatory research as a methodology of development(Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), 0000) Tandon, RajeshThis paper questions how development research has usually been done. It points out that classical research keeps a firm line between the researcher and the people being studied, treats the researcher's own values as something to be kept out of the picture, and leaves control of the whole process in the researcher's hands alone. Participatory research is put forward as a way of working that sets these assumptions aside. Here the problem to be studied comes from the community itself, the people affected take an active part in the inquiry, and the researcher works alongside them rather than above them. Three examples from India carry the idea forward. In West Bengal, sharecroppers were registered through village camps under what became known as Operation Barga. In southern Rajasthan, twelve tribal families built a shared irrigation system by reviving an old local practice of water-sharing. In Maharashtra, an organisation called Shramik Sanghatana brought together landless labourers and tribal women around wages, land rights and the effects of alcoholism on their households. Through these cases, the paper highlights some of the more challenging issues that participatory research raises, such as its closeness to political action, the difficulty of applying it in unorganized communities, and the need for a researcher's personal perspective before people are willing to trust the process.Item Creating knowledge: A monopoly? Participatory research in development(Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), 1982-06) Hall, Budd L; Gillete, Arthur; Tandon, RajeshThis book is about participatory research as a political process bound up with questions of power and knowledge production, rather than merely a set of methods. It opens with the Jamaican Drama for Progress literacy project, where a shift from delivering pre-written messages to villagers toward enabling them to write and perform their own material captures the move from research done on people to research done with them. Drawing on the Latin American tradition of investigación acción and Paulo Freire's thematic investigation, the collection questions who is authorised to produce knowledge about poverty and underdevelopment. Five theoretical essays address participation, power and alternative methods, followed by seven case studies from Indonesia, Senegal, Tanzania, England, Chile, Canada and India, and a concluding section of critical reactions. Rather than success stories, what emerges are unresolved questions about initiating participatory work, sustaining ties with political organisations, and balancing theory with praxis in research committed to social transformation.Item Challenges in the co-construction of knowledge: A global study on strengthening structures for community university research partnerships(0000) Hall, Budd L; Tandon, Rajesh; Tremblay, Crystal; Singh, WafaWhat does it mean to institutionalise the co-construction of knowledge between universities and communities at a global level? This paper begins from the premise that knowledge democracy requires moving beyond expert driven models towards collaborative processes that recognise the knowledge generating capacities of each human being and of every community. Community university research partnerships are presented as a key pathway for this shift, as they create structures through which research questions, methods, processes and outcomes can be shaped jointly. Drawing on a global survey and national case studies across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas, the authors examine the histories, discourses and institutional forms that support or constrain such partnerships. This paper further analyses models such as Science Shops, centers of community-based research and national policy frameworks, while identifying tensions and practical challenges in embedding such work within universities. It highlights the importance of facilitative structures, supportive leadership, transnational networks and sustained institutional commitment. In doing so, it argues that institutionalising community-based research is not only a technical exercise but a political and ideological process that reshapes how universities understand knowledge, partnership and their responsibilities to society.Item Education for all as determined by the few?(Society for Participatory Research in Asia, 1989-12) Tandon, RajeshItem Participatory research and participatory social action(1980-04-13) Tandon, RajeshItem Participatory Evaluation and Research: Main Concepts and Issues(Indian Social Institute, 1981) Tandon, RajeshFrom the days in the 1930s when the University of Bombay first introduced a post-graduate course in sociology, to our days, there has been a gradual change to the professionalization of the social sciences. With professionalization came specialisation and its acceptance as a science that can be considered objective by creating a distance between the researcher and the 'object' of study i.e., the people studied—actors in the social setting.Item Knowledge as power: Participatory research as alternative(Indian Social Institute, 1985) Tandon, RajeshThis paper by Dr. Rajesh Tandon revolves around the concept of knowledge as a source of power and how participatory research has emerged as a solution against the monopoly of knowledge. The article argues that a major, yet subtle source of exploitation of people has emerged since World War II, through control exercised using knowledge. It explains how the professionalization of knowledge production has devalued ancient, popular knowledge and denied ordinary people access to professionally produced knowledge, leading the weaker sections of society to become even weaker. The article further presents participatory research as an alternative to help the weaker sections engage in knowledge production and its utilisation. A few key elements of participatory research it expands on are- recognizing and valuing existing popular knowledge, building new knowledge from authentic elements of existing knowledge, enabling ordinary people to exercise control of knowledge production and dissemination- promoting collective analysis and responsibility. This creates informed opinions, and enables concrete actions to transform the situation of the have-nots. The article concludes by providing examples of local organisations in India that have undertaken this process and emphasizes the need to promote popular knowledge and research that can function as a tool of collective action in favour of the minority.