Participatory action research: The woven collective analysis approach to recognize experiential knowledge of poverty

Abstract

When conducting Participatory Action Research (PAR), we risk invalidating the experiential knowledge of people in poverty. Their contributions might only be seen as legitimate when put through a formal PAR process. We have thus developed a “woven collective analysis” approach, intertwining experiential, practical and academic knowledge. Diverse stakeholders reflect together and combine their voices, while ensuring that the experiential knowledge of people living in poverty remains the primary focus. Using the weaving process as a metaphor and a food-autonomy project as an example, we explore the steps involved in this data analysis approach: warping (or the need to recognize different types of knowledge and identify the actions required to use and communicate them); threading (or how to put into place a series of frameworks to allow information on social patterns to emerge, while combining varied knowledge); and sleying (or using targeted collective analysis to tighten up the information, in a recurring and systematic way). These combined operations contribute to the weaving process and the emergence of a new fabric of complex, social and transformational Common knowledge.