Participatory action research publications in journal papers and reports

This article focuses on PAR as a strategy to understand social vulnerability within the context of women as rural farm dwellers in the North-West Province, South Africa. It emphasises the need for continued participation and the practical principles/benefits derived from PAR. The PAR process cycles are discussed. The article emphasises that the application of the PAR process can make a contribution towards the development of a community by creating an understanding of social vulnerability, by building capacity and by ensuring participation. It also addresses income-generating activities.

This case study describes the author’s experience with the use of PAR using a ‘resistance paradigm’. The primary actors in the PAR process were the small-scale miners association and the Kasighau community. in Kenya concerning their rights in a protracted struggle for control of and access to minerals in their own ancestral lands. An emerging boldness and bravery in the small-scale miners could be directly linked to the PAR process and as a reflection of the continued opening up of political space in Kenyan society.

Two works on participatory development provide perspectives on values and process in development. The first book, 'Participation: The New Tyranny' challenges the pervasive belief that participation is unequivocally good. The second, 'Participation: From Tyranny to Transformation' attempts to theorize a more coherent and potentially transformative participatory development. This essay reviews these two contributions and proposes that a more thoroughly pragmatic orientation might advance the interests of a transformative participation.

A participatory action research project was undertaken with Aboriginal health workers in South Australia. The study examined the factors that affect the empowerment of Aboriginal health workers within the context of an Aboriginal-controlled primary health care service. Findings showed that the three main factors preventing Aboriginal health workers from attaining a key role within the health service are the standard of training they receive, their low literacy and numeracy levels, and their lack of participation in decision making within the health service.