Creating inclusive identity narratives through participatory action research

Abstract

This paper describes the process and outcomes of Voices, a participatory action research project aimed to disrupt divisive ethnic identity narratives among youth living amidst protracted ethnic conflict. The project took place in the Garo Hills region of Northeast India, a site of protracted ethnic conflict. Moving away from crisis‐based approaches, this paper explores the conflict transformative potential of participatory action research, specifically its effectiveness in facilitating civic engagement across ethnic lines. The findings indicate that young people's involvement in the project afforded them an opportunity to engage with local community concerns outside of polarized ethnic identity narratives. This involvement facilitated three critical outcomes: engagement in social critique, reconfiguration of a more inclusive researcher identity, and adoption of a language of possibility. Based on these findings, it is argued that opportunities for critical community engagement could interrupt divisive ethnic identity narratives and provide turning points for youth to reimagine inclusive social identities.

Evidence that loneliness can be reduced by a whole-of-community intervention to increase neighbourhood identification

“…Other efforts that use a community-based participatory approach to improve social relationships have sought to involve community members as co-producers of their personal and collective wellbeing (Tremblay et al, 2018). In a similar vein, studies using a participatory action approach suggest that creating inclusive partnerships with community members to harness a sense of community identity can prove useful for engaging participants in joint efforts for community change (Dutta, 2017;Walsh et al, 2014). Taken as a whole, this work suggests that social identity processes are critical to interventions that seek to mobilize community members to take action or to pursue health-related change.…”

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“…A colonialidade tem efeitos mais profundos e duradouros sobre as estruturas sociais e está enraizada na intersubjetividade, produzindo hierarquias e violência histórica (DUTTA, 2017;PITOMBEIRA et al, 2019). As populações indígenas e quilombolas sofrem com as consequências dessa colonialidade de forma ampla, mas também há especi昀椀cidades para cada grupo, como aponta um estudante quilombola:…”

“Did I see what I really saw?” Violence, percepticide, and dangerous seeing after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid

“…The social groups who are “against” are then further demeaned and viewed as “them” rather than “us,” which makes them unworthy and undeserving of attention (Farmer, 2004; Scheper‐Hughes, 2004). Examples of such groups that have been documented in the social sciences literature are street children in Brazil, ethnic groups with little socially recognized power in Northeast India and South Africa, and poor people in Jamaica and Haiti (Bell, 2016; Dutta, 2017; Farmer, 2004; Scheper‐Hughes, 2004). There are fewer studies employing a violence framework that describes how these processes unfold in a US context (for exceptions, see Hernandez & Galletta, 2016; Ilyes, 2016).…”

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