Operating principles for collective scholar-activism: Early insights from the Agroecology Research-Action Collective

Abstract

Scholar-activism is attractive to researchers who want not just to learn about the world, but about how to change that world. Agri-food studies have experienced a surge in the past two decades in researchers who see closer ties to social move­ments as key to food systems change. Yet to date, much scholar-activism depends on individually negotiated researcher-movement relationships, which may or may not be sustained long term and where knowledge can remain siloed. The Agro­ecology Research-Action Collective (ARC) seeks something different. Born of a desire to subordi­nate scholarship for scholarship’s sake to the needs and exigencies of movements, ARC envisages collective processes, horizontal non-exploitative learning among ourselves and with movements, and mechanisms for multidirectional accounta­bility. This reflective essay is the story of how ARC set out to “get our house in order”: to organize ourselves as scholars committed to systematizing more accountable and reciprocal relationships with frontline communities and grassroots movements. We first share the Principles & Protocols that guide our actions and the process through which we developed them. We then discuss two intercon­nected arenas in which ARC is developing a com­munity of practice guided by the Principles & Protocols. The first arena is through integrating participatory education into our everyday teaching and mentoring. The second arena is working to achieve broader social and institutional change by sharing methods and strategies for mobilizing resources and legitimating knowledge, both old and new.

Becoming agroecologists: A pedagogical model to support graduate student learning and practice

“…Within our model, the link between cohorts and participatory practice supports processes of socialization, connecting individual (self) transformation with collective (world) transformation. Participatory practice builds on the long history of participatory action research (PAR) in agroecology (e.g., Fals-Borda, 2001;Montenegro de Wit, 2014;Méndez et al, 2017;Nicklay et al, 2020;Montenegro de Wit et al, 2021;Utter et al, 2021). Our results affirmed the centrality of participatory work to agroecology but highlighted emerging opportunities for a broader understanding of participatory practice, supported by interconnected cohorts, to reorient agroecological work toward collective needs.…”

“…While writing the initial draft of this paper, for example, we observed the broader social and political pushback against critical race theory (Sawchuk, 2021), which contributed to our decision to rename "critical theory" to "critical inquiry." While this example focuses on minimizing the risks faced by university students, faculty, and staff, the Agroecology Research-Action Collective emphasizes that it is important for those with less precarious positions to leverage their privilege for both colleagues and community partners in agroecological work (Montenegro de Wit et al, 2021).…”

“…Cohorts create an institutional structure for connections, which Méndez et al (2017) argues is important to "facilitate the succession of active participants without losing forward momentum." Thus, cohorts address two key challenges identified by both workshop participants and broader literature: the limited timeframe of graduate programs (Bruges and Smith, 2007;Delate et al, 2017) and academic reward structures that don't recognize or support the resources required to build and maintain relationships, including the emotional labor, time, and financial resources (Robinson, 2008;Hilimire et al, 2014;Montenegro de Wit et al, 2021). Furthermore, the research needs identified by partners often require knowledge, expertise, or skills beyond those of an individual faculty/educator (Montenegro de ; whereas an individual student or researcher may try to stretch beyond their capacity to fulfill that role in the current university structure, holding relationships collectively could open the opportunity to connect partners and other university cohort members who already have the relevant skills, knowledge, and capacity.…”

Harvesting a participatory movement': Initial participatory action research with the Jewish Farmer Network

“…We have embodied their principles of collaborative research development via ongoing collaboration, resourcing by providing valuable work, and dialogical interpretation to reach shared analysis (ARC, n.d., para. 3-6;Montenegro de Wit et al, 2021). We see ARC's principles on working with institutions as a salient guide for future work.…”

Call for reimagining institutional support for PAR post-COVID

“…Our current essay is not a comprehensive review of this literature, and it does not purport to originate these ideas. What we trace in this essay is how and why calls for community-based and even community-led action research, grounded in antiracist, decolonial, and feminist (to name only a few) commitments, hits impasses in academia (Kindon et al, 2007;Chatterton et al, 2010;Derickson and Routledge, 2015;Hammelman et al, 2020;Henry and Fay, 2021;Montenegro de Wit et al, 2021;Roman-Alcalá, 2022). What accounts for the entrenched institutional roadblocks?…”