The dominant view within the academy, universities and among policymakers is that research is a process involving knowledge generation by academic experts. There is growing interest in, and increased university support for, ‘engaged’ research, which deepens research approaches to involve communities and civil society. However, such engaged research is too often limited to conceptualisations within the ‘extractive’ paradigm of research and places insufficient priority on participatory action research. Such forms of participatory research are processes involving the co-construction of knowledge and social action with disadvantaged groups. There is a need, therefore, for a more expansive conceptualisation, definition and practice of engaged research, which is normatively critical, social justice- and social change-orientated, participatory in both process and outcome. This chapter provides such a framework for engaged, co-constructed, action research. It makes the case that this has an important value which enables the co-construction of new knowledge about inequality but within the research process also aims at the empowerment of marginalised groups, through co-producing policy analysis, proposing solutions and bringing them into the policy and public spheres in forms of action research.
Whom do we conduct research with and for? What kinds of questions do we ask of the social world, and how do we question how knowledge is produced? In what ways do our approaches to research and our manner of carrying out research studies matter? If we, as social science students, academics and practitioners, commit ourselves to social change agendas, then our research endeavour is at the heart of advancing such transformative change.Rights and Social Justice in Research is a text which sets out what a rights-based approach to research looks like, why this framework matters and how we can translate a rights-based and social justice agenda into operational research. These questions will be addressed through an examination of numerous case studies from our contributors through their work with and for diverse community groups, including women, young people, migrants, Travellers, sex workers, people who use drugs, people with disabilities, and older people. This edited collection brings together a range of contributions which explore and illustrate the nature of research for social justice. Taken together, these contributions advance ideas about the transformative potential of social research and demonstrate how a social justice agenda can be operationalised throughout the research process.Can our research create conditions for people to flourish? What kinds of questions do we ask about the social world and how knowledge is produced? Does our approach to research itself matter?This edited collection explores and illustrates the nature of research for social justice. Drawing on a diverse range of social research projects, it examines research with and for young people, marginalised communities and those who work to further social justice and human rights goals.Providing key examples of the tools, processes and outcomes of research relevant to social justice, including where and how these frameworks can be used in the design and execution of research, this is a much-needed intervention to social research methodology.This edited collection explores and illustrates the nature of research for social justice. Drawing on a diverse range of social research projects, it sets out what a rights-based approach to research looks like, why this framework matters and how we can translate them into operational research.