Governing through community allegiance: a qualitative examination of peer research in community-based participatory research

Abstract

The disappointing results of many public health interventions have been attributed in part to the lack of meaningful community engagement in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of these initiatives. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) has emerged as an alternative research paradigm that directly involves community members in all aspects of the research process. Their involvement is often said to be an empowering experience that builds capacity. In this paper, we interrogate these assumptions, drawing on interview data from a qualitative study investigating the experiences of 18 peer researchers (PRs) recruited from nine CBPR studies in Toronto, Canada. These individuals brought to their respective projects experience of homelessness, living with HIV, being an immigrant or refugee, identifying as transgender, and of having a mental illness. The reflections of PRs are compared to those of other research team members collected in separate focus groups. Findings from these interviews are discussed with an attention to Foucault's concept of ‘governmentality’, and compared against popular community-based research principles developed by Israel and colleagues. While PRs spoke about participating in CBPR initiatives to share their experience and improve conditions for their communities, these emancipatory goals were often subsumed within corporatist research environments that limited participation. Overall, this study offers a much-needed theoretical engagement with this popular research approach and raises critical questions about the limits of community engagement in collaborative public health research.

Community leaders’ perspectives on engaging African Americans in biobanks and other human genetics initiatives

“…The challenges and poor outcomes from public health interventions among ethnic minorities have in part been attributed to the lack of meaningful community engagement in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of such programs (Guta et al 2013). A more sustained engagement with why Tuskegee and HeLa have taken on such symbolic power, despite the widespread existence of other racialized injustices, remains a possibility for future analysis.…”

Caught up in power: Exploring discursive frictions in community research

“…Despite the positive depictions of CBR, some researchers have started questioning the veracity of the emancipatory claims of CBR set forth by early proponents of this research approach (Guta, Flicker & Roche 2013;Janes 2016;Stoecker 2009). The emancipatory claims can be challenged when power asymmetries and discursive frictions are scrutinised.…”

“…She questions the material practice in CBR by academic researchers of 'giving up' power and 'taking up' new subject positions, and suggests that this practice is used to co-opt the voice and knowledge of the community by reinscribing academic privilege to the academic in the production of knowledge. Guta, Flicker and Roche (2013) explore the disconnect that exists between the stated emancipatory goals of CBR projects and practices that inadvertently advance oppressive neoliberal agendas. They identify the process of community 'capacity-building' that involves finding the 'right' community members to train, to help achieve the goals of the research project, as a technology of governance that reshapes community life by differentiating between community members who can do research and those who cannot.…”

Using photovoice to examine community level barriers affecting maternal health in rural Wakiso district, Uganda

“…Community-based, participatory research has been increasing in health research, [15][16][17] emphasising the engagement of participants in all stages of the research process. 18 In addition to generating knowledge, community-based participatory research is an iterative process that involves reflection, shared learning and power sharing.…”