Connecting relational wellbeing and participatory action research

Reflections on ‘unlikely’ transformations among women caring for disabled children in South Africa

Bibliographic Data

ID12893284
AuthorsElise J van der Mark (0000-0002-2318-7061, Athena Sustainable Materials Institute, corresponding author), Teun Zuiderent-Jerak (0000-0003-3008-1297, Athena Sustainable Materials Institute), Christine Dedding (0000-0003-3296-4245, Athena Sustainable Materials Institute), Ina Conradie (0000-0002-5374-7410, University of the Western Cape), Jacqueline E W Broerse (0000-0002-8478-3422, Athena Sustainable Materials Institute)
Year2023
Volume19
Issue1
Pages80-104
Publication date2023-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Global Ethics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1744-9626 • E-ISSN: 1744-9634
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17449626.2023.2186468
OpenAlexW4353067031
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited42

Participatory action research (PAR) is a form of community-driven qualitative research which aims to collaboratively take action to improve participants’ lives. This is generally achieved through cognitive, reflexive learning cycles, whereby people ultimately enhance their wellbeing. This approach builds on two assumptions: (1) participants are able to reflect on and prioritize difficulties they face; (2) collective impetus and action are progressively achieved, ultimately leading to increased wellbeing. This article complicates these assumptions by analyzing a two-year PAR project with mothers of disabled children from a South African urban settlement. Participant observation notes, interviews, and a group discussion served as primary data. We found that mothers’ severe psychological stress and the strong intersectionality of their daily challenges hampered participation. Consequently, mothers considered the project ‘inactionable’. Yet, many women quickly started expressing important individual and collective wellbeing transformations. To understand these ‘unlikely’ transformations, a feminist relational account, in particular, that of relational wellbeing, proves essential. We reflect on the consequences of these findings for the dominant PAR methodology and operationalization, and propose to sensitize future PAR with marginalized women by employing relational wellbeing as an overarching ontological awareness

Action (physics · Citizen journalism · Epistemology · Intersectionality · Operationalization · Participatory action research · Political science · Reflexivity · Social science · Sociology · Gender Studies · Mental Health and Patient Involvement · Participatory Visual Research Methods · Psychology · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics · Social Psychology