Participatory action research and participation in development

This article looks at three types of tension which are pertinent in ways which knowledge production and development policies including participatory action are addressed:| A redefinition of theory and practice;| The meaning of the subject/object and knowledge triad;| The search for more ample and open scientific paradigms.
The main finding is that the participatory worldview and holistic paradigms that are developing with participatory action research are of the open-system type, and are more conducive to authentic participation and development policies. This is because they bring together praxis and ethics, academic knowledge and popular wisdom, the teacher and the student, the rational and the existential. They break down the subject/object dichotomy as well as previous and present relations of exploitation and subordination that support the status quo. Such emergent, participatory paradigms demonstrate a personal philosophy of life in the commitment for necessary change on the part of researchers, teachers, officials, or agents.