Liberating Community-based Research: Rescuing Gramsci’s Legacy of Organic Intellectuals
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15402/esj.v8i3.70755Keywords:
organic intellectuals, adult education, community-based research facilitationAbstract
This article aims to provoke a discussion around conceiving community members as community-based research facilitators and leaders of their own process of change. It argues this is possible by rescuing Gramsci’s legacy of organic intellectuals that is present in community-based research literature, particularly under the participatory research rubric. However, this perspective has been overshadowed by a strong emphasis on community-based research (CBR) as a collaborative research approach rather than a people’s approach for knowledge production that leads to social transformation. Furthermore, such a view of community-based research is fruitful within an adult education and social movement learning framework. In a sense, social movements provide an environment that facilitates critical consciousness and the formation of organic intellectuals and in which communities and academics learn to better engage in partnership for community-led social change. In this context, CBR is still a collaborative approach, but one led primarily by organic intellectuals.
References
Ander-Erg, E. (2003). Repensando la investigación acción-participatica (4th ed.). Grupo Editorial Lumen-Hvmanitas.
Arribas Lozano, A. (2018). Knowledge co-production with social movement networks: Redefining grassroots politics, rethinking research. Social Movement Studies, 17(4), 451-463. https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2018.1457521
Beck, D., & Purcell, R. (2020). Community development for social change. Routledge.
Boggs, C. (2010). Gramsci and the New American Movement. Works and Days, 28(55-56), 147-156.
Bowd, R., Ozerdem, A., & Kassa, D. (2010). A theoretical and practical exposition of “participatory” research methods. In A. Ozerden & R. Bowd (Eds.), Participatory research methodologies: Development and post-disaster/conflict reconstruction (pp. 3-18). Taylor & Francis Group.
Caraballo, L., Lozenski, B., Lyiscott, J., & Morrell, E. (2017). Youth participatory action research (YPAR) and critical epistemologies: Rethinking educational research. Review of Research in Education, 41(1), 311-336. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X16686948
Cassidy, K. (2008). Organic intellectuals and the new loyalism: Re-inventing protestant working class politics in Northern Ireland. Irish Political Studies, 23(3), 411-430. https://doi.org/10.1080/07907180802246743
Chambers, R. (1997). Whose reality counts? Intermediate Technology Publication.
Clover, D., & Craig, C. (2009). Streets-life’s creative turn: An exploration of arts-based adult education and knowledge mobilization with Homeless/Street involved women in Victoria. Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education, 22(1), 21-35.
De Nardis, F., & Caruso, L. (2011). Political crisis and social transformation in Antonio Gramsci: Elements for a sociology of political praxis. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 1(6), 13-23.
Diaz-Puentes, J., Gallego, F., Vidueira, P., & Fernandez, M. (2014). Facilitation in community development. Twenty-five years of experience in rural territories in Cuenca, Spain. European Planning Studies, 22(11), 2231-2247. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2013.830695
English, L. M., & Mayo, P. (2012). Learning with adults: A critical pedagogical introduction. Sense Publishers.
English, L., & Irving, C. (2015). Feminism and adult education: The nexus of policy, practice, and payment. Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education, 27(2), 1-15.
Etmanski, C., Dawson, T., & Hall, B. (2014). Introduction. In C. Etmanski, B. Hall & T. Dawson (Eds.), Learning and teaching community-based research: Linking pedagogy to practice (pp.3-22). University of Toronto Press.
Eyerman, R., & Jamison, A. (1991). Social movements: A cognitive approach. Pennsylvania State University Press.
Fals Borda, O. (1992). La ciencia y el pueblo: Nuevas reflexiones. In M. Salazar (Ed.), La investigación-acción participativa: Inicios y desarrollos (pp. 59-75). Editorial Popular.
Femia, J. (1975). Hegemony and consciousness in the thought of Antonio Gramsci. Political Studies, 23(1), 29-48. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.1975.tb00044.x
Fischman, G., & McLaren, P. (2005). Rethinking critical pedagogy and the Gramscian and Freirean legacies: From organic to committed intellectuals or critical pedagogy, commitment, and praxis. Cultural Studies – Critical Methodologies, 5(4), 425-446. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532708605279701
Forgacs, D. (Ed.). (2000). The Gramsci reader: Selected writing 1916-1935. New York University Press.
Freire, P., & Macedo, D. P. (1995). A dialogue: Culture, language, and race. Harvard Educational Review, 65(3). https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.65.3.12g1923330p1xhj8
Gaventa, J. (1993). The powerful, the powerless, and the expert: Knowledge struggles in an information age. In P. Park, M. Brydon-Miller, B. Hall & T. Jackson (Eds.), Voices of change: Participatory research in the United States and Canada (pp. 21-40). Bergin & Garvey.
Gencarella, S. (2010). Gramsci, good sense, and critical folklore studies. Journal of Folklore Research, 47(3), 221-252. https://doi.org/10.2979/jfolkrese.2010.47.3.221
Grace, A. P. (2013). Lifelong learning as critical action: International perspectives on people, politics, policy, and practice. Canada Scholar’s Press Inc.
Gramsci, A., Hoare, Q., & Nowell-Smith, G. (1971). Selections from the prison notebooks of Antonio Gramsci (1st ed.). International Publishers.
Green, M. (2011). Gramsci cannot speak: Presentation and interpretations of Gramsci’s concept of the subaltern. In M. Green (Ed.), Rethinking Gramsci (pp. 68-89). Routledge.
Hall, B. (1981). Participatory research, popular knowledge and power: A personal reflection. Convergence, 14(3), 6-17.
Hall, B. (1993). Introduction. In P. Park, M. Brydon-Miller, B. Hall & T. Jackson (Eds.), Voices of change: Participatory research in the United States and Canada (pp. xiii-xxii). Bergin & Garvey.
Hall, B. (2005). In from the cold? Reflections on participatory research from 1970-2005. Convergence, 38(1), 5-24.
Hall, B., & Clover, D. (2005). Social movement learning. In L. English (Ed.), International encyclopedia of adult education (pp. 584-589). Palgrave Macmillan.
Hall, B., & Clover, D. (2014). Imagine/learning: Thoughts from two adult educators. Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education, 26(2), 1-8.
Hall, B., Tandon, R., Lepore, W., Singh, W., Easby, A., & Tremblay, C. (2016). Theoretical pedagogical framework for community-based research. In R. Tandon, B. Hall, W. Lepore & W. Singh (Eds.), Knowledge and engagement: Building capacity for the next generation of community-based researchers (pp. 7-38). PRIA.
Hamilton, E. (1992). Adult education for community development. Greenwood Press.
Hawley, J. (1980). Antonio Gramsci’s Marxism: Class, state and work. Social Problems, 27(5), 584-600. https://doi.org/10.2307/800198
Hoare, Q. & Smith, G. N. (Eds.)(1971). Introduction. Selections from the prison notebooks of Antonio Gramsci (pp. 1-4). International Publishers.
Hoare, G., & Sperber, N. (2016). Introduction to Antonio Gramsci: His life, thought and legacy. Bloomsbury.
Kapoor, I. (2010). The devil’s in the theory: A critical assessment of Robert Chambers’ work on participatory development. The Third World Quarterly, 23(1), 1011-117. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436590220108199
Korff, R., & Rothfuss, E. (2011). From action to participatory research: Critical and affirmative implications of a research method (Contemporary Southeast Asian Dynamics, Working Paper Series No.3). University of Passau.
Kumar, S. (2002). Methods for community participation. Practical Action Publishing.
Ledwith, M. (2011). Community development: Critical approach (2nd ed.). Policy Press.
Ledwith, M. (2016). Community development in action: Putting Freire into practice. Policy Press.
Ledwith, M. (2020). Community development: A critical and radical approach (3rd ed.). Policy Press.
Lenin, V. (1902). What is to be done? Marxists Internet Archive.
Mayo, P. (1999). Gramsci, Freire and adult education: Possibilities for transformative action. Zed Books.
Mayo, P. (2015). Hegemony and education under neoliberalism Insights from Gramsci. Routledge.
Moreland, R., & Lovett, T. (1997). Lifelong learning and community development. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 16(3), 201-216. https://doi.org/10.1080/0260137970160304
Morris, R. (2005). Social movements. In L. English (Ed.), International encyclopedia of adult education
(pp. 589-594). Palgrave Macmillan.
Morrison, C., & Sacchetto, D. (2018). Research ethics in an unethical world: The politics and morality or engaged research. Work, Employment and Society, 32(6), 1118-1129. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017017726947
Negri, B., Thomas, E., Ilinigumugabo, A., Muvandi, I., & Lewis, G. (1998). Empowering communities: Participatory techniques for community-based programme development (Vol. 2). Centre for African Family Studies, Nairobi.
Peet, R., & Hartwick, E. (2015). Theories of development: Contentions, arguments, alternatives (3rd ed.). The Guilford Press.
Purcell, R. (2005). Working in the community: Perspectives for change (2nd ed.). Lulu Press.
Pyrch, T. (2012). Breaking free: A facilitators’ guide to participatory action research practice. Lulu Press.
Rahman, M. A. (1991). The theoretical standpoint of PAR. In O. Fals-Borda & M. A. Rahman (Eds.), Action and knowledge: Breaking the monopoly with participatory action-research (pp. 13-23). The Apex Press.
Rubin, H., & Rubin, I. (2008). Community organizing and development (4th ed.). Pearson.
Selener, D. (1997). Participatory action research and social change (2nd ed.). Cornell University.
Stewart, P., & Lucio, M. (2017). Research, participation and the neo-liberal context: The challenges of emergent participatory and emancipatory research approaches. Ephemera: Theory & Politics in Organization, 17(3), 533-556.
Strand, K., Marullo, S., Cutforth, N., Stoecker, R., & Donohue, P. (2003). Community-based research and higher education: Principles and practices. Jossey-Bass.
Sumner, J. (2005). Sustainability and the civil commons: Rural communities in the age of globalization. University of Toronto Press.
Vio Grossi, F. (1981). Socio-political implications of participatory research. Convergence, 14(3), 43-51.
Wallerstein, N., & Duran, B. (2008). The theoretical, historical, and practice roots of CBPR. In M. Minkler & N. Wallerstein (Eds.), Community-based participatory research for health: From process to outcomes (2nd ed., pp. 25-46). Jossey-Bass.
Walton, D. (2012). Doing cultural theory. SAGE Publications Ltd.
Welton, M. (1995). Amateurs out to change the world: A retrospective on community development. Convergence, 28(2), 49-62.
Welton, M. (2013). Unearthing Canada’s hidden past: A short history of adult education. Thompson Publishing.
Westoby, P., & Shevellar, L. (2016). A perspective on community-based education and training. In P. Westoby & L. Shevellar (Eds.), Learning and mobilizing for community development: A radical tradition of community-based education and training (pp. 13-23). Routledge.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0 that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter separate, additional contractual agreements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted to post their work online (e.g., in an institutional repository or on their website) after the publication of their work in the Engaged Scholar Journal.
- Please note that while every opportunity will be taken to ensure author participation in the editing process, due to time constraints final copyediting changes may be made before publication to ensure APA adherence throughout all submissions.
