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Community Action and Research as Citizenship Construction

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American Journal of Community Psychology

Abstract

Social change, well-being and liberation have been intertwined in community research and action, as much as being used as political common-places. In this paper, it is argued that community research and action can have a political character. The epistemological premises shared by both the community and political spheres are discussed, and concepts are defined. The way community psychological action can produce changes is illustrated by an experience carried out with children from poverty sectors of Caracas, Venezuela, intended to construct citizenship by developing awareness about values, civic rights and duties, while experiencing the advantages of participation, peaceful negotiation and solidarity, during art classes. Topics regarding citizenship values and ethics were painted and discussed in a participatory way. Results about how the children developed consciousness about those topics, relating them to their lives, are presented.

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Notes

  1. This may remind the reader of the concept of deconstruction, but it is not an analysis as in deconstructing a literary text. De-naturalization is part of the wider concept of conscientisation introduced by Paulo Freire (1970 in its Portuguese first edition), and is carried out in group discussions. In this sense CP as practiced in Latin America has been employing de-naturalization since the 1980s.

  2. The visiting scholars stay for 3–6 months; the instructors are students of Art or community volunteers. Some have worked for a semester, some for years (from 2 to 5 years). The Venezuelan psychologists are: Ingrid Gómez, who stayed until 2006 and coordinated the Coche site, and Maribel Gonçalves de Freitas who, along with Lourdes Pérez, Librarian of San José de La Urbina, were in charge of a specific sub-programme: “The children of San José de La Urbina paint and tell the history of their barrio” (1997–1998).

  3. The Library provided special classes to help them overcome this problem.

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Acknowledgments

The author thanks the unknown reviewers for their helpful observations and comments.

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  1. Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela

    Maritza Montero

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  1. Maritza Montero
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Correspondence to Maritza Montero.

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Montero, M. Community Action and Research as Citizenship Construction. Am J Community Psychol 43, 149–161 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-008-9224-6

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