Participatory research: An introduction

Abstract

This book is about participatory research, put together by the Participatory Research Network and published in 1982 by the Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA). It frames participatory research as three processes that cannot really be separated in practice, collective investigation, and collective analysis and action. Its roots draw from several places at once- adult education, anthropology, action research, and Paulo Freire's idea of conscientization. A large section covers methods used in the field, group discussions, public meetings, open-ended surveys, community seminars, popular theatre, and educational camps, grounded in real examples such as grain storage in Tanzania, a women's cooperative in South Korea, and sewage problems on a Canadian reserve. Four longer case studies follow, from Appalachia, Tanzania, Chile, and India, each raising doubts about whether the approach can move beyond reform or truly shift control to local people. The book closes with unresolved tensions around funding and training, and a set of poems that place the work within a wider international struggle.