Right from the start, action research was intended to be emancipatory research, and it still is. This article will underpin this by outlining its history and the present state of the art. Though a variety of action research approaches have developed along divergent theoretical pathways, it will be stressed that these approaches share the most important characteristics of action research and are basically different applications of different action theories. They are all supported by a participatory worldview and are meant to be a double-sided process of research, self research and education directed at individual empowerment and collective empowerment and/or emancipation. Since the relationship between the researcher and the subjects being researched is crucial for the success of action research as an emancipatory or empowering activity, this article will maintain that the most important task of action researchers is to develop refined heuristics concerning this communication. The article will end by making some recommendations for the improvement of action research as an emancipatory practice.

ACTION RESEARCHIn this special issue we want to reflect on the characteristics of action research and stimulate the discussion on the relevancy, adequacy and consequences of this kind of social scientific research, that differs in important ways from the traditional forms of research. As will be illustrated in the contributions to this issue, there are many possible definitions of action research. A core definition most action researchers probably could agree on is to describe it as scientific social research which is participatory and practice-oriented, which aims to find solutions to social problems and to emancipate individuals and groups confronted with such problems. Even with regard to this basic definition, there is theoretical debate about the specific implications of the constituting elements, though.To start with the participatory element of action research, a point of discussion is to what extent the subjects in the research field will have to be involved. What is clear, is that within action research, the social scientist and the people involved in the research have a subject-subject relationship. But with respect to how far the influence of the researched subject must go, action researchers hold different positions. To some, the essence of the 'subjecthood' lies in the fact that action research is a hermeneutic kind of research. This means that the researcher has to be a participant (at least virtually) in the life of the researched party to be able to interpret its actions. Others take this hermeneutical approach a step further and claim that researcher and researched have to collaborate in research to be able to generate useful knowledge. This standpoint is for instance clearly reflected in the form of action research that is called co-operative inquiry. And there are also action researchers who believe that a one-way interpretative research strategy does not suffice, neither from an epistemological nor from an emancipatory point of view. In their view, researcher and researched have to communicate about their mutual interpretations of the social situation under study and start a dialogical reflection on the problematic aspects and possible solutions to it.

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