Solidarity Action Research as Methodology

Abstract

Colombian society is in an ongoing violent confrontation in which research is immediately referenced by policy debate. Assumptions about crimes of powerful actors, trusting or skeptical, oblige a choice between a corporate-led and a victim-led investigation. A fresh response to social movements seeking international support to overcome human rights violations takes critical criminology as its framework. The research approach is oriented toward the social movements' experience. Social movements are rendered not simply as victims but as conscious social actors. The role of multinational corporations is analyzed from a social movement standpoint by a methodology that combines NGO- based research with action research.