Action Research for Democracy

Ewa Gunnarsson is Professor Em. at Luleå University of Technology.Hans Peter Hansen is Assistant Professor at the Department of Urban and Rural Development at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and is a member of the division of Environmental Communication.Birger Steen Nielsen is Professor at the Department of Psychology and Educational Studies, Roskilde University, Denmark.  Nadarajah Sriskandarajah is Professor of Environmental Communication within the Department of Urban and Rural Development at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in Uppsala.

• Preface. Editors’ Introduction: Why Action Research for Democracy? Part One: Renewal of Working Life and Welfare Institutions Through Democratisation. Openings by Action Research and Interactive Research Introduction to Part One 1. Interactive Research: A Joint Learning Process with the Unions Maria Bennich, Lennart Svensson and Göran Brulin 2. Design as Democratic Process – and Implications for Innovation Bo Westerlund and Yngve Sundblad 3. Democratising Innovation Policy by Gender Scientific Participatory Research Malin Lindberg 4. Empowering Dialogues: A Way to Democratise Knowledge Production? Ann-Christine Larsson and Sofia Nordmark 5. New Forms of Public Participation: The Festival of Difference as Action Research on the Road to a More Inclusive Labour Market Ditte Tofteng and Mia Husted 6. Redefining Democratic Welfare – Openings and Future Orientations: Action Research in Danish Day Care Centres Annegrethe Ahrenkiel 7. Action Research with Teachers: Action and Critique in a Project on Multicultural Education Signe Hvid Thingstrup 8. Educational Action Research and the Development of Professional Teacher Knowledge Hilde Hiim Part Two: Action Research: Rethinking the Societal Role of Science: Democratisation, Sustainability and Historical Experience Introduction to Part Two 9. Can Action Research Strengthen Democratic Dimensions in Gender Mainstreaming Processes? Ewa Gunnarsson 10. Organising Research Institutions Through Action Research Jonas Egmose 11. Towards Democratic Scientific Inquiry?: Participatory Democracy, Philosophy of Science and the Future of Action Research Erik Lindhult 12. Artistic Sense in Action Research Birger Steen Nielsen and Kurt Aagaard Nielsen Postscript.

'Reflecting on the very rich content of the research presented in this book, we underscore its relevance for an international dialogue. From Latin Ameri-ca and the Caribbean we mention the gradual development of Participatory Action Research (PAR)2 or Participative Research, which began in the 1970s (Gabarrón & Landa, 2006) and was articulated with Popular Education. As an alternative to the positivist model, research practices are introduced that open the way for “learning by transforming”, with three characteristics that provide the foundation for the epistemic identity of participative research in this context: transforming action, production of knowledge and participation of the research subjects in the entire process.' Telmo Adams, Paloma Daudt, Carolina Nunes Ramos, IJAR – International Journal of Action Research