Co-Construction of Knowledge

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Author: search.filters.author.Tandon, RajeshEnd date: 2009

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Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
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    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, Wafa
    In this paper, Budd Hall, Rajesh Tandon, Crystal Tremblay and Wafa Singh present a global study on structures that support community-university research partnerships. The study draws on an international survey and national case studies from twelve countries, examining how universities institutionalise community engagement and where this engagement connects with actual research practice. The authors turn to the discourse of knowledge democracy, arguing that community-based research offers a way to address long-standing inequities in whose knowledge counts within the academy. Survey findings point to a gap between universities' stated commitment to co-constructing knowledge and the reality that very few research projects originate from communities themselves. The paper reviews facilitative structures across universities in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, India and elsewhere, and considers the role of national networks and policies in strengthening these partnerships. It closes with recommendations for national policy, higher education institutions, and community and civil society organisations.
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    From clarity to anarchy: Participatory research approach (A critique of "The methodology of the participatory research approach")
    (1979) Tandon, Rajesh
    In this paper, Rajesh Tandon responds to a critique of a paper on the methodology of the participatory research approach, presented at the African Regional Workshop on Participatory Research in Tanzania in 1979. A central fallacy runs through the original argument that the wide range of political activism within PRA produces naive idealism and methodological adhocism. Participatory research is not an invention of the seventies; only its label is new, since people organising the rural poor had long practised its elements without naming them. Two vantage points inform the approach, the activist's and the professional researchers, and reconciling them forms the real challenge. Classical research confines inquiry to thinking alone, while PRA treats feeling and acting as equally valid modes of knowing. A genuine risk of subjective, superficial analysis remains, addressed through joint analysis between researcher and people. PRA's apparent anarchism reflects unfamiliarity and variety rather than incoherence.
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    Asian regional participatory research network: A note
    (1985) Tandon, Rajesh
    Dr. Rajesh Tandon's 1985 note reviews seven years of the Asian Regional Participatory Research Network, outlining its theoretical orientation and administrative structure. He argues participatory research in Asia has become part of the organized struggles of local people, challenging expert authority and helping communities build their own strength. The work has centered on five group-, workers, the rural poor, tribals, women, and urban slum dwellers, approached from a clear position alongside the oppressed rather than through debates over methods. On the administrative side, he records decisions from the December 1983 Manila meeting: regional coordination staying with the Society for Participatory Research in Asia, New Delhi, and patchy communication between regions. The note closes by asking someone else to take over as international coordinator after his three years in the post and calls for more inter-regional collaboration, possible residency exchanges, and a better networking system.
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    Collaborative participatory research in gender mainstreaming in social change organizations
    (Participatory research in Asia (PRIA), 2006-11-19) Tandon, Rajesh; Farrell, Martha
    Unequal gender relations in societies, specially developing countries, have been focus of development programmes for decades. Much of this focus has been on changing gender relations in communities. However, organisations - governmental and private also reflect similar patterns of gender relations. Advocacy for gender mainstreaming in organisations has had limited success due to prescriptive approach. PRIA has adopted a learning process approach to gender mainstreaming in development NGOs in India. Collaborative Research methodology has been utilized towards this end. This paper describes one such case and draws implications for future research and practice.
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    Should participatory research be taught in a university?
    (Society for Participatory Research In Asia (PRIA), 2003) Tandon, Rajesh
    This excerpt is based on a keynote address delivered by Rajesh Tandon in February 2003, reflecting on whether and how participatory research can be taught. It questions the limits of conventional research, opens up debates on methodology and power, and invites readers to think of knowledge as something shaped through dialogue rather than instruction.
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    Notes on participatory research methodology for forest studies
    (1982-09) Tandon, Rajesh
    This document outlines a participatory research framework for studying the impact of forest legislation on forest-dwelling communities in India. It emphasizes involving local activists and residents directly in data collection, analysis, and reporting so that research becomes both documentation and a tool for mobilization.
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    Participatory research network
    (1987-03) Tandon, Rajesh
    As dissatisfaction with mainstream social science grew in the 1970s and 1980s, participatory research began to take shape as an alternative way of producing knowledge that was more closely tied to people’s struggles. This paper provides an appraisal of the first decade of participatory research and the networks that emerged around it. The study traces the evolution of the movement through three distinct phases: inception, consolidation, and diffusion. The initial years were shaped by a strong critique of conventional social science and the search for an alternative paradigm rooted in adult education and people’s struggles. The consolidation period witnessed the growth of regional networks, the establishment of participatory research as a recognized program within the International Council for Adult Education, and the development of organisations like PRIA in Asia. The phase of diffusion, then marked a shift toward deeper connections with social movements, as participatory research became more explicitly linked to issues such as land, deforestation, workers’ rights, and women’s empowerment. The paper emphasizes that the future of participatory research lies not only in refining methodology but also in expanding its influence within academia and linking more strongly with people’s concerns. By situating knowledge creation in the context of social struggles, the research underscores participatory research as both a methodology and a worldview that continues to inspire collective action and empowerment.
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    Adult education, culture development and social movements: The contemporary challenge
    ( Society for Participatory Research In Asia (PRIA), 1993-04-27) Tandon, Rajesh
    This article by Dr. Rajesh Tandon examines the challenges in adult education amidst the context of global cultural homogenization, social movements, and development, and highlights the importance of cultural identity in social transformation. Dr. Tandon describes the current global scenario as unipolar in nature, with a rise in global media that has led to the homogenization of culture and destruction of indigenous knowledge systems throughout the world, resulting in growing alienation of individuals, families, and communities. In this context, the article describes a craving within people and communities for their historical roots and identities. It also identifies a neglect in social movements since World War II, which focused primarily on economic and political issues instead of cultural dimensions of oppression and addresses the rise of new social movements in the past few decades for closure of this gap. The article concludes by linking the role of education with sustaining cultural identities urging adult educators to bring the issue of culture into development discourse.
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    Issues and experiences in participatory research in Asia
    (1979-06-25) Tandon, Rajesh
    In this paper Dr. Rajesh Tandon examines characteristics and issues of participatory research as practised across Asia during the late 1970s, drawing on meetings held in India and Thailand alongside field reports from researchers. Practitioners engaging with participatory research bring varied motivations, ranging from disillusioned social scientists seeking relevance beyond classical research paradigms to activists redirecting failed development strategies toward decentralized alternatives and educators treating research itself as a vehicle for social transformation. Rural settings dominate the Asian experience, reflecting both the scale of rural populations and the concentration of documented efforts in land, health, and adult education. The paper situates participatory research in close and often uncomfortable relation to social action, tracing the political consequences that follow from this link across varied Asian contexts. It also addresses the largely unorganized condition of underprivileged groups and the corresponding need to build organization alongside inquiry, along with the personal values and behavioural skills researchers need to genuinely facilitate participation rather than reproduce authoritarian patterns. The paper closes by treating these issues as unresolved questions for the ongoing evolution of participatory research in the region, rather than settled conclusions.