Research, participation and the neo-liberal context: The challenges of emergent participatory and emancipatory research approaches

Political commitment linked to robust research is seen as a major challenge amongst progressive researchers. Many suggest that one way forward is to engage with those being researched in novel and participative ways so that a democratic spirit is sustained. The preferred methodology is ‘participatory action research’ (PAR). The paper begins with an outline of PAR and its attraction for balancing political commitment with value-neutrality in research. It then discusses the importance, purpose and radicalness of what we interpret as a ‘left-radical’ methodology for making alliances with those excluded in myriad ways. The paper subsequently insists on the need to understand the limitations of PAR used by those working from within the neo-liberal academy. We insist that its utility depends upon context, feasibility and desirability. Without this awareness, and without connecting with a broader understanding of the notion of organic and committed intellectuals, then PAR (still a relatively unused research practice) becomes practically limited if not merely symbolic. First, PAR is not inherently democratic – it has radical usage but it is a methodology subject to various social appropriations. Second, when used by left-radical researchers, PAR should be emancipatory; however, it is not the only or the best way to engage with people outside the academy. Third, while some of us working within the academy have been fortunate to use PAR, there are constraints due to the rise of the neo-liberal university.