Abstract
This article focuses on methodological and epistemological issues arising from a research project with two Gypsy communities (2010–2012) in the South West of England. Although the two communities seem to share cultural roots and values, and live within a few miles of each other, they have contrasting experiences within the education system and very different relationships with the surrounding mainstream communities. The article explores difficulties emerging as a consequence of the contrasting positions of the participant communities, the differing research aspirations and practices across the research team, and also the tensions between ethnographic work and participatory action research. It queries the problematic nature of participation, and proposes the concept of the faux-participant.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arnstein, S. R. (1969). A ladder of citizen participation. Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 35(4), 216–224.
Banks, S., Armstrong, A., et al. (2013). Everyday ethics in community-based participatory research. Contemporary Social Science, 8(3), 263–277.
Barry, B. (2001). Culture and equality: An egalitarian critique of multiculturalism. Cambridge, MA: University of Harvard Press.
Barth, F. (Ed.). (1969). Ethnic groups and boundaries. Oslo: University Press.
Bhabha, H. K. (1994). The location of culture. New York: Routledge.
Biolsi, T., & Zimmerman, L. J. (Eds.). (1997). Indians and anthropologists: Vine Deloria Jr. and the critique of anthropology. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Blodgett, A. T., Schinke, R. J., Smith, B., Peltier, D., & Pheasant, C. (2011). In indigenous words: Exploring vignettes as a narrative strategy for presenting the research voices of aboriginal community members. Qualitative Inquiry, 17(6), 522–533.
Carspecken, P. F. (2001). Critical ethnographies from Houston: Distinctive features and directions. In P. F. Carspecken & G. Walford (Eds.), Critical ethnography and education (pp. 1–26). Oxford: Elsever.
Clark, C. (2008). Introduction themed section care or control? Gypsies, Travellers and the state. Social Policy and Society, 7(1), 65–71.
Clark, T. (2010). On ‘being researched’: Why do some people engage with qualitative research? Qualitative Research, 10(4), 399–419.
Clark, C. (2015). Integration, exclusion and the moral ‘othering’ of Roma migrant communities in Britain. In M. Smith (Ed.), Moral regulation (pp. 43–56). Bristol: Policy Press.
Clifford, J. (1988). On ethnographic authority. Reprinted in A. C. G. M. Robben & J. A. Sluka (Eds.), Ethnographic fieldwork: An anthropological reader (pp. 476–492). Malden, MA: Blackwell (2007).
Cornwall, A., & Jewkes, R. (1995). What is participatory research? Social Science and Medicine, 41(12), 1667–1676.
DCSF. (2008). The inclusion of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children and young people. Ref: 00063-2008.
DCSF. (2009). Moving forward together: Raising Gypsy, Roma and Traveller achievement. Ref: 00710-2009FLR-EN.
De Schutter, H. (2005). Nations, boundaries and justice. Journal of the European Ethics, 12(1), 17–40.
Deloria, V., Jr. (1973). Custer died for your sins. In T. Weaver (Ed.), To see ourselves: Anthropology and modern social issues (pp. 130–137). Glenview, IL: Scott, Foreman and Co.
DfE. (2014). School behaviour and attendance. London: Gov. UK. Ref. DFE-00080-2014.
Durose, C., Beebeejaun, Y., Rees, J., Richardson, J., & Richardson, L. (2011). Towards co-production in research with communities. London: AHRC.
Foley, D. E. (2004). Ogbu’s theory of academic disengagement: Its evolution and its critics. Intercultural Education, 15(4), 385–397.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Herder and Herder.
Geertz, C. (1988). Works and lives: The anthropologist as author. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Guerra, N. G., & Jagers, R. (1998). The importance of culture in the assessment of children and youth. In V. C. McLloyd & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Studying minority adolescents: Conceptual, methodological and theoretical issues (pp. 167–182). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Hall, S. (1992). The question of cultural identity. In S. Hall, D. Held, & A. McGrew (Eds.), Modernity and its futures (pp. 274–316). Cambridge: Polity Press.
Hall, S. (1996). Who needs ‘identity’? In S. Hall & P. du Gay (Eds.), The questions of cultural identity (pp. 53–60). London: Sage.
Hart, R. A. (1997). Children’s participation: The theory and practice of involving young citizens in community development and environmental care. London: Earthsea.
Israel, B. A., Eng, E., Schulz, A. J., & Parker, E. A. (2005). Methods in community-based participatory research for health. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Israel, B. A., Schulz, A. J., Parker, E. A., & Becker, A. B. (1998). Review of community-based research: Assessing partnership approaches to improve public health. Annual Review of Public Health, 19, 173–202.
Jordan, S. (2009). From a methodology of the margins to neoliberal appropriation and beyond: The lineages of PAR. In D. Kapur & S. Jordan (Eds.), Education, participatory action research, and social change (pp. 15–28). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kemmis, S., & McTaggart, R. (1988). The action research reader (3rd ed.). Victoria: Deakin University Press.
Khanlou, N., & Peter, E. (2005). Participatory action research: Considerations for ethical review. Social Science and Medicine, 60, 2333–2340.
King, C. (1997). Here come the anthros. In T. Biolsi & L. J. Zimmerman (Eds.), Indians and anthropologists: Vine Deloria Jr. And the critique of anthropology (pp. 115–119). Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Kymlicka, W. (1995). Multicultural citizenship: A liberal theory of minority rights. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Lassiter, L. E. (2005). The Chicago guide to collaborative ethnography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Levinson, M. P. (2004). Navigating without fixed points: The perils of open-ended research. In P. N. Coombes, M. J. M. Danaher, & P. A. Danaher (Eds.), Strategic uncertainties: Ethics, politics and risk in contemporary educational research (pp. 130–142). Queensland: Flaxton Qld: Post Pressed.
Levinson, M. P. (2010). Accountability to research participants: unresolved dilemmas and unravelling ethics. In B. Dennis (Ed.), Ethnography and education, Special Issue (5:2), pp. 193–207.
Levinson, M. P. (2014). “What’s the plan?” “What plan?” Changing aspirations among Gypsy youngsters, and implications for future cultural identities and group membership. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 35(4), 1–21.
Marushiakova, E., & Popov, V. (2016). Identity and language of the Roma (Gypsies) in Central and Easter Europe. In T. Kamusella, N. Motoki, & C. Gibson (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of slavic languages, identities and borders (pp. 26–56). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
McIntyre, A. (2008). Participatory action research. Thousand Oaks, LA: Sage.
Minkler, M., & Wallerstein, N. (Eds.). (2003). Community based participatory research for health. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Monasta, L., Erenbourg, A., Restaino, S., et al. (2012). Review of the scientific literature on the health of the Roma and Sinti in Italy. Ethnicity and Disease, 22(3), 367–371.
Muhammad, M., Wallerstein, N., Sussman, A. L., et al. (2015). Reflections on researcher identity and power: The impact of positionality on community based participatory research (CBPR) processes and outcomes. Critical Sociology, 7–8, 1045–1063.
Murray, C. (2005). Children and young people’s participation and non-participation in research. Adoption and Fostering, 29(1), 57–66.
Ogbu, J. U. (2003). Black American students in an affluent suburb: A study of academic disengagement. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Ogbu, J. U., & Simons, H. D. (1998). Voluntary and involuntary minorities: A cultural–ecological theory of school performance with some implications for education. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 29(2), 155–188.
Olivera, M. (2015). Roma/Gypsies in France: The extent of diversities versus the permanence of public policies. In A. Alietti, M. Olivera, & V. Riniolo (Eds.), Virtual citizenship? Roma communities, ICTs and inclusion policies in Europe (pp. 37–54). Milan: Mac Graw-Hill.
Parekh, B. (2000). Rethinking multiculturalism: Cultural diversity and political theory. London: Macmillan.
Phillips, S. (1976). Access to power and maintenance of ethnic minority as goals of multicultural education: Are they compatible? Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 7(4), 30–32.
Pohl, C., Rist, R., Zimmerman, A., Fry, P., et al. (2010). Towards co-production in research with communities. Science and Public Policy, 37(4), 267–281.
Robertson, R. (1995). Glocalisation: Time-space and homogeniety–heterogeneity. In M. Featherstone, S. Lash, & R. Robertson (Eds.), Global modernities (pp. 25–44). London: Sage.
Rosaldo, R. (1988). Ideology, place and people without culture. Cultural Anthropology, 3(1), 77–87.
Schuster, A. (2006). Does liberalism need multiculturalism? A critique of liberal multiculturalism. Essays in Philosophy, 7(1), Article 15.
Setti, F. (2017). Long-lasting fieldwork, ethnographic restitution and ‘engaged anthropology’ in Romani studies. Urban Review. doi:10.1007/s11256-016-0389-2.
Shier, H. (2001). Pathways to participation: Openings, opportunities and obligations. Children and Society, 15(2), 107–117.
Smith, D., & Greenfields, M. (2013). Gypsies and Travellers in housing: The decline of nomadism. Bristol: Policy Press.
Taylor, C. (1992). Multiculturalism: Examining the politics of recognition. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Titterton, M., & Smart, H. (2008). Can participatory research be a route to empowerment? A case study of a disadvantaged Scottish community. Community Development Journal, 43(1), 52–64.
Tremlett, A. (2013). ‘Here are the Gypsies!’ The importance of self-representations and how to question prominent images of Gypsy minorities. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 36(11), 1706–1725.
Treseder, P. (1997). Empowering children and young people. London: Save the Children.
Wallerstein, N. B., & Duran, B. (2006). Using community-based participatory research to address health disparities. Health Promotion Practice, 7(3), 312–323.
Wilkin, A., Derrington, C., White, R., Martin, K., Foster, B., Kinder, K., et al. (2010). Improving the outcomes for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils. Slough: NFER.
Acknowledgements
With thanks to the British Academy and also to Cornwall County Council, the funders of this work. With gratitude, also, to the participants in the project and to the sensitive and hard-working individuals who kept this research going, despite all the difficulties. Finally, in memory of Ginny Harrison-White, who worked with integrity and courage for Gypsy communities.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Levinson, M. When Participants Don’t Wish to Participate in Participatory Action Research, and When Others Participate on Their Behalf: The Representation of Communities by Real and Faux Participants. Urban Rev 49, 382–399 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-016-0390-9
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-016-0390-9