Unterdrückte Wissensarten miteinander sprechen lassen

Abstract

Participatory, collaborative, community-based and co-production approaches encompass a wide spectrum of research concepts and practices. Their potential to effect social change is best understood within the specific contexts in which they emerge and through concrete projects. This article does not compare these approaches or rank their potential according to abstract criteria. Instead, it begins from what they share: a stated commitment to democratising research processes and diversifying knowledge production.
First, I examine the hierarchical contexts in which such efforts unfold, highlighting inherent structural contradictions and limitations. Second, I explore the prospects for a form of social research that transcends the binary between researchers and researched, and between expertise and experience, while fostering collective knowledge generation – a social research that regards social change not as an optional add-on, but as an integral part of its very constitution.