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This book explores the potential of participatory research and the capability approach to transform understandings of higher education. The editors and contributors illuminate the importance of epistemic in/justice as a foundation to a reflexive, inclusive and decolonial approach to knowledge, as well as its importance to democratic life and participation in higher education. Drawing together eight global case studies, the authors argue for an ecology of knowledge that expands epistemic capabilities in higher education through teaching, research and policy making. Moreover, the chapters illustrate how these epistemic capabilities can be marginalised by both institutions and structural and historical factors; as well as the potential for possibilities when spaces are opened for genuine participation and designed for a plurality of voices. This book will appeal to scholars of social justice and participatory research as well as ongoing debates around decolonising the academy.
List of contents
Chapter 1. Epistemic justice, participatory research and valuable capabilities; Melanie Walker and Alejandra Boni.- Chapter 2. Expanding epistemic capability in participatory decision-making processes: The Universidad de Ibagué capabilities list; Diana Velasco and Alejandra Boni.- Chapter 3. Expanding capabilities for epistemic justice through social innovation: The case of business and management courses in UNIMINUTO, Colombia; Sergio Belda-Miquel and Carmen Leonor Avella Bernal.- Chapter 4. A Freirian approach to epistemic justice: Contributions of action learning to capabilities for epistemic liberation; Monique Leivas, Álvaro Fernández-Baldor, Marta Maicas-Pérez and Carola Calabuig-Tormo.- Chapter 5. Epistemic capabilities in the context of oppression: Reflections from an action learning programme in Salvador, Brazil; Lori Keleher and Alexandre Apsan Frediani.- Chapter 6. Democratic capabilities research: Exploring contextual challenges and contributions of participatory research towards epistemic justice; Carmen Martinez-Vargas.- Chapter 7. Participatory video as a tool for cultivating political and feminist capabilities of women in Turkey; F. Melis Cin and Rahime Süleymanoglu-Kürüm.- Chapter 8. A participatory photovoice project: Towards capability expansion of 'invisible' students in South Africa; Melanie Walker and Mikateko Mathebula.- Chapter 9. Graffiti as a participatory method fostering epistemic justice and collective capabilities among rural youth: A case study in Zimbabwe; Tendayi Marovah and Faith Mkwananzi.- Chapter 10. Potential of participatory action research processes to overcome epistemic injustice in non-ideal university settings; Alejandra Boni and Melanie Walker.
About the author
Melanie Walker is Distinguished Professor in the Centre for Development Support at the University of the Free State, South Africa, and holds the South African Research Chair in Higher Education and Human Development. Her research interests focus on social justice and human development in higher education in the global South.
Alejandra Boni is Professor at the Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain and Deputy Director of Ingenio (CSIC-UPV). Her research interest focus on human development, higher education, global citizenship and transformative innovation.
Report
"This wide-ranging edited volume by Melanie Walker and Alejandra Boni beautifully captures the potential for university-based participatory action research (PAR) to influence epistemic spaces in the wider community. Moreover, and perhaps most interestingly, it does so by invoking the insights of the capability approach. ... The editors deserve to be congratulated for this collection of essays that lend both depth and breadth to the book. ... The 10 chapters in this excellent volume help us understand why." (Stacy J. Kosko, Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Vol. 23 (1), 2022)
