Action Research and Performativity

How Sociology Shaped a Farmers' Movement in The Netherlands

Bibliographic Data

ID3158609
AuthorsF J Daniel (0000-0002-8804-4117, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, corresponding author), François‐joseph Daniel
Year2011
Volume51
Issue1
Pages17-34
Publication date2011-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociologia Ruralis (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0038-0199 • E-ISSN: 1467-9523
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-9523.2010.00525.x
OpenAlexW1481736799
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited19

This article elaborates on the interactions at play between sociologists and social actors during an action research process. It particularly seeks to highlight the impact that scholars have while undertaking field research and interacting with the objects of their research; the processes through which academic ideas spread, and become a part of social reality. This article argues that this academic influence can be best understood through the concept of performativity. During an action research process scientific utterances not only have an analytical value but also shape the world, as they can bring into existence what they utter. To illustrate this phenomenon, this article presents a case study that highlights the impact of sociologists on a farmers' movement in The Netherlands, an impact that was facilitated by a performative process. It demonstrates that the process of performing is an entanglement of events, a tumult of successive situations and circumstances through which researchers' views are gradually diffused among the population, shape people's minds and transform their institutions. These findings reflect those of economic sociologists, who also analysed how economic models and theories are transferred into social arrangements through a process of performativity

Action (physics) · Epistemology · Field (mathematics) · Performative utterance · Performativity · Population · Process (computing) · Social science · Sociology · Value (mathematics) · Complex Systems and Decision Making · Gender Studies · Management and Organizational Studies · Participatory Visual Research Methods

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