Collective voices: Engagement of hartford community residents through participatory action research

Abstract

The article details a Participatory Action Research (PAR) Project that partnered Latino and African and Caribbean American residents with research educators from the Institute for Community Research in Hartford, CT. PAR has been used to engage marginalized people in the process of knowledge production and take action to change the oppressive structures affecting them. Project participants worked together to design research projects on economic opportunities and trainings for Spanish speaking residents, the social, environmental and physical conditions of neighborhoods, and the educational outcomes for Hartford schoolchildren; together they conducted research, analyzed and disseminated the results, and planned and implemented action strategies. This article discusses the process of developing a PAR project with different groups over a sustained period of time, reviews the results of from the overall project, and examines the impact of PAR for the participants. The critical results were the development of individual and collective voice, cross-neighborhood understanding and collaboration, and capacity building at individual and collective levels, as well as research and action results by residents.