Feminism and Action Research – Valerie Louis
Before I was an action researcher, I was a feminist researcher/scholar. I had done feminist qualitative research, taking into account whose voice was being heard, the power dynamics within the research process, and the gendered lens which I explored my topic. As an action researcher I learned a lot from feminist theory and methodology. I have used my feminist lens as a foundation for my AR. As a feminist thinker, I am not just concerned with gender but the intersectionality of oppressions and identity. The hierarchy of oppressions just didn’t make sense in the theoretical world – though I embrace understanding that many in the world do see their identities and oppressions as hierarchical, or one piece that plays out more overtly in society than another.
When I began my education as an action researcher, my classes studied much of the critical theories I read as a feminist scholar. With this re-reading, I realized I had found another one of my educational homes. But what drives my action research is my feminist identity, my awareness of the social injustice in the world. Action research provided a place for the theory and the action that fell in love with as a women’s studies student. I found AR to provide more of a blueprint and a theory for my feminist methodology. Much has been written about feminism and AR (see Brydon-Miller, Maguire & McIntyre and Frisby, Macguire & Reid in bibliography below). I think it is important to explore how we came to AR. For me, I know that it is continually important for me to honor the feminist researcher/scholar within me and that it is foundational to all of the work that I do, even when at times it is not the most prominent label I use in the discussion (and that is not because I am afraid of the f-word 🙂
Collins, P. (2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment: Routledge.