The world café is an unmethod within co-produced research

Abstract

The world café (WC) has gained popularity as a participatory method for collecting qualitative data. In this article, we present an instrumental case study -the Moving Social Work cafés- to illuminate why and how the WC might be applied within co-produced research. Our principal argument is that the WC constitutes a coherent and effective means for living up to the principles and values of co-production, as long as it is not treated as a method. We also contend that the WC should be approached as an unmethod, and we explain this approach through the metaphors of jazz and contact improvisation. Broadly, the article encourages qualitative researchers to resist the temptation to methodologize processes that have more potential when they remain constitutionally immature.