Dr. Budd Hall presented the recently published book Teaching Community-Based Participatory Research: Socially Responsible and Ethically Anchored, which collates five decades of knowledge of working in teaching and learning participatory principles. He then shared a rich overview of the evolution of this field and its key champions. He outlined how the ideas of PR arose amongst a group of researchers in Tanzania in the early 1970s by sharing the Kiswahili concepts of Ujamaa (family hood/community), Kujitegemea (self- reliance) and Uraghibishi (participatory research/animation). These concepts— articulated by the late President Mwalimu Julius
K. Nyerere—influenced a shift in how segments of the Tanzanian research community began to conceptualize knowledge creation and its connection to action. Dr. Budd Hall propounded that today’s participatory research is grounded in the intellectual and activist foundations laid by thinkers and practitioners from like Nyerere, Paulo Freire, Orlando Fals Borda, Rajesh Tandon, Md. Anisur Rahman, Marjorie Mbilinyi, Yusuf Kassam, among others.
Jo Howard, a Professor of Participatory Action Research at IDS, offered insight into her own experience with participatory research, noting the limited institutional support for participatory methods just a few decades ago—even in leading research environments. Marina Apgarand Jiniya Afroze also shared reflections on her work and how participatory approaches are enabling more inclusive research processes. They shared shared examples of their work in Bangladesh using an approach they call systemic action research.
The event brought together a diverse group of people, and was attended by forty participants in person and 120 people on-line. The event concluded with a dynamic discussion on the future of participatory research. In his closing remarks, Dr. Hall responded to a question on the challenges of justice-oriented research with his powerful observation:
"We do not live in a broken world. If we are to see ahead of what the mainstream gives us, we will see so much good happening in the world. We must remember that it is up to us to change the world—and we can."
Congratulations to IDS for this spectacular event and deepest gratitude to all who contributed to this thoughtful and inspiring celebration.
