Conclusion

Abstract

This conclusion summarizes the themes related to participatory action research (PAR) that emerged from the chapters in this volume. Additionally, this conclusion looks to the future of PAR in South Asia with recommendations for a future research agenda. Throughout the volume, much has been written about the possibilities for PAR in South Asia. The authors provided descriptive accounts of PAR-related research in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Research methodologies were diverse, as the authors investigated PAR using case studies, ethnography, mixed methods, and quantitative research designs to frame their chapters. The varieties of PAR research designs encompassed in this volume are indicative of the flexibility of PAR as a participatory method of research. Robin McTaggart (1991), though, warned that such flexibility can often lead to the dilution of PAR. Hence, he emphasized that researchers should not lose sight that the very core of PAR is about authentic participation, “which means sharing in the way that research is conceptualized, practiced, and brought to bear out on the life-world. PAR is also about ownership—the responsible agency in the production of knowledge and improvement of practice” (p. 171). Participatory action in the construction of knowledge by the community in service to the community is what distinguishes authentic PAR. Although malleable in research design, PAR remains grounded in action research to build greater awareness and to spur on changes in the community. PAR’s action orientation through the construction and ownership of knowledge echoes what Paulo Freire (1970, 1994) described as development of conscientization. Freire explained that conscientization is part of education’s emancipatory purposes in which people are able to “read the world” (Freire 1970) and “rewrite the world” (Freire 2001). The chapters in this volume captured ways that stakeholders across South Asia are “reading and rewriting” their world through means of the participatory and empowering practice of action research. Several themes emerged across the chapters. Here we revisit three themes in particular: identity through voice, collective empowerment, and transforming the community.