Research as Resistance

This chapter provides an overview of activist research and how it is used in various fields including anthropology, social movements, and education. It discusses the impetus for incorporating activism into theoretical frameworks and research methodologies and the distinct aspects of activist research. Youth participatory action research (YPAR) is examined to identify how activist research can be situated into the methods and outcomes. Finally, a YPAR study is examined to illustrate how activist research can serve as a guided framework.

Helping Homeless Youth: Epistemological Implications of Power in a YPAR Project

Text from Nasma: 'I’ve started moving my things out of the house. I’m putting it in your office for now.' Thus began the story of how one of the youth I had worked with for four years on various YPAR projects became homeless and turned to me for help. Entering this crisis with Nasma took time and an emotional toll, and it affected the power dynamics of our relationship when finishing our YPAR project. Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) works to rebalance power in inequitable relationships based on roles, age, race, gender, etc. Providing care to Nasma as she confronted the traumatic situation of homelessness affected our collaborative relationship as she became dependent on me for basic economic resources. Through this process, the inequities in age and material resources between Nasma and me were centred, displacing the more equitable interactions that we had constructed through YPAR projects. This article employs critical autoethnography to examine the epistemological ‘risks of care’ and argues that the calls for ‘care-full’ scholarship still need to contend with the pitfalls of differential power dynamics in YPAR.

Inclusion of venture capital to improve the welfare of female headed households in South Jakarta

This community service activity is focused on helping women from poor families to be able to revitalize their businesses affected by the Covid-19. Poverty in women's groups, especially female headed household has become one of the top global agenda. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted that these groups becoming poorer, not least in Jakarta, Indonesia. Therefore, this community service is focused on efforts to uplifting their economy by providing capital to set up small business. Youth Participatory Action Research (Y-PAR) is used as the community service approach, collaboration of lecturers and students. This service activity has been able to encourage poor women who previously lost their income, managed to regain their economic resources and create new businesses to improve the welfare of their families.

Creating a Relational Participatory Space: Insights from a Youth Participatory Action Research Project

<p><b>Since the ratification of Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, there has been a heightened focus on youth participation as a way of upholding young people’s right to have their say on decisions that affect them. However, programmes that attempt to engage young people in decision-making processes have often been poorly enacted and have failed to adequately address the barriers that limit young people’s ability to participate meaningfully and therefore rarely result in sustained change. This study examined processes with a youth participatory action research [YPAR] project in order to identify and explore processes and practices that might serve to sustain young people’s involvement and support authentic and meaningful participation. The research used an instrumental case study approach to examine an 18-month-long YPAR project operated through an existing youthwork programme. Data were collected through autoethnography, artefact analysis and participant interviews and reflections with youth participants. </b></p> <p>The study found that peer-to-peer and peer-to-leader relationships were foundational to youth participants’ ongoing involvement over the 18-month period. Such relationships appeared to drive much of the momentum of the action research and enable at times dynamic flows of power between youth participants and adults that encouraged an inter-generational space within the YPAR project. Young people stepped into leadership roles at different phases of the project while adult leaders managed the pace and progress of the project. The study identified five factors that helped to create this relational participatory space: reduced leader direction; valuing youth voice; openness of other participants, reworking adult-centric processes and the implementation of a variety of sharing activities. A number of factors that constrained youth voice were also identified. The study highlights how strong relationships were an integral part of the processes and practices of YPAR, rather than merely a positive outcome of participatory processes. These findings challenge traditional individualistic models of youth participation that frequently fail to acknowledge the importance of intergenerational and collective relationships within youth participatory action research projects. The study therefore calls for a heightened focus on relationship building within participatory processes both at a policy and practical level.</p>

Creating a Relational Participatory Space: Insights from a Youth Participatory Action Research Project

<p><b>Since the ratification of Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, there has been a heightened focus on youth participation as a way of upholding young people’s right to have their say on decisions that affect them. However, programmes that attempt to engage young people in decision-making processes have often been poorly enacted and have failed to adequately address the barriers that limit young people’s ability to participate meaningfully and therefore rarely result in sustained change. This study examined processes with a youth participatory action research [YPAR] project in order to identify and explore processes and practices that might serve to sustain young people’s involvement and support authentic and meaningful participation. The research used an instrumental case study approach to examine an 18-month-long YPAR project operated through an existing youthwork programme. Data were collected through autoethnography, artefact analysis and participant interviews and reflections with youth participants. </b></p> <p>The study found that peer-to-peer and peer-to-leader relationships were foundational to youth participants’ ongoing involvement over the 18-month period. Such relationships appeared to drive much of the momentum of the action research and enable at times dynamic flows of power between youth participants and adults that encouraged an inter-generational space within the YPAR project. Young people stepped into leadership roles at different phases of the project while adult leaders managed the pace and progress of the project. The study identified five factors that helped to create this relational participatory space: reduced leader direction; valuing youth voice; openness of other participants, reworking adult-centric processes and the implementation of a variety of sharing activities. A number of factors that constrained youth voice were also identified. The study highlights how strong relationships were an integral part of the processes and practices of YPAR, rather than merely a positive outcome of participatory processes. These findings challenge traditional individualistic models of youth participation that frequently fail to acknowledge the importance of intergenerational and collective relationships within youth participatory action research projects. The study therefore calls for a heightened focus on relationship building within participatory processes both at a policy and practical level.</p>

Give Us More Credit! Recommendations for Young and Adult Researchers on Conducting Adolescent-Led Research

Youth participatory action research, child-led research, and child-led activism are being increasingly employed to counter adultism in social work and development contexts, in a way to break down barriers for young people to have their voices heard on issues and decisions about their lives. This commentary comprises 2 open letters from a young researcher and advocate for children’s well-being and rights in Romania. The first letter is addressed to fellow young people and shares the journey of learning about and subsequently researching the issue of sexual violence, as well as a call to young people to stand up and use their voice to bring attention to issues important to them. The fear and anxiety of doing something new, that is usually in an adult space, cedes to empowerment and confidence found through the process. The second letter is addressed to adult researchers and practitioners and shares the methodology and findings of the child-led research project, lessons learned, and recommendations for adults engaging in child-led research. A key recommendation is for adults to support child researchers without manipulating the process, and to give young people more credit in commonly adult-held spaces.

How to Be an Antiracist: Youth of Color’s Critical Perspectives on Antiracism in a Youth Participatory Action Research Context

This study is part of a larger Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) project engaging youth of color (YOC; aged 16–24 years) in a planning a multilevel health promotion campaign for a large safety net hospital. Analyses focus on youths’ conceptualizations of antiracism, and their recommendations on how to facilitate an intentionally antiracist YPAR. We answer the following questions: (a) How do YOC engaged in a YPAR project conceptualize and define antiracism? and (b) How do youth and adult allies conceptualize an antiracist YPAR project and what strategies do they use and/or recommend to this end? We employed instrumental case study methods and thematic analyses to code project data sources. Findings indicate that youths’ definitions of antiracism include elevating marginalized voices, actively resisting racism, incorporating an intersectional approach, and examining privilege, power, and positionality. YPAR members recommended strategies for creating an antiracist YPAR including prioritizing people of color in YPAR processes, creating space to acknowledge and process positionality and racialized dynamics, and engaging in ongoing education and dialogue. Moreover, both youth members and adult allies recognized that antiracist YPAR projects require time and resources to remain consistently antiracist, and such a goal can only be accomplished through a reiterative and reflexive process.