Humanities & social sciences communications, May 25, 2024
Transformative research is a broad and loosely connected family of research disciplines and appro... more Transformative research is a broad and loosely connected family of research disciplines and approaches, with the explicit normative ambition to fundamentally question the status quo, change the dominant structures, and support just sustainability transitions by working collaboratively with society. When engaging in such science-practice collaborations for transformative change in society, researchers experience ethical dilemmas. Amongst others, they must decide, what is worthwhile to be researched, whose reality is privileged, and whose knowledge is included. Yet, current institutionalised ethical standards, which largely follow the tradition of medical ethics, are insufficient to guide transformative researchers in navigating such dilemmas. In addressing this vacuum, the research community has started to develop peer guidance on what constitutes morally good behaviour. These formal and informal guidelines offer a repertoire to explain and justify positions and decisions. However, they are only helpful when they have become a part of researchers' practical knowledge 'in situ'. By focusing on situated research practices, the article addresses the need to develop an attitude of leaning into the uncertainty around what morally good behaviour constitutes. It also highlights the significance of combining this attitude with a critical reflexive practice both individually and collaboratively for answering questions around 'how to' as well as 'what is the right thing to do'. Using a collaborative autoethnographic approach, the authors of this paper share their own ethical dilemmas in doing transformative research, discuss those, and relate them to a practical heuristic encompassing axiological, ontological, and epistemological considerations. The aim is to support building practical wisdom for the broader research community about how to navigate ethical questions arising in transformative research practice.
Access to water is understood as the ability to derive benefits from water for a given condition ... more Access to water is understood as the ability to derive benefits from water for a given condition and in a particular situation. However, the benefits (or lack thereof) are reaped differently by men, women and children. The gendered norms thereby play a critical role in the division of labour. The voices which represent these issues also embody such ‘gendered’ differences. Therefore, the objective of this research was to examine the role of gender to access water for domestic consumption, specifically within the existing institutional arrangements of Kapau, Western Province in Zambia. The paper dissects these very institutions which affect meaningful participation of individuals in regards to access to water. Cleaver and Hamada (2010) provided a framework to analyse the gendered concerns of water governance arrangements. Using this approach, this study explores the actors’ ‘room to manoeuvre’ in negotiating with societal norms and practices, thereby aiding in investigating the research question – How are arrangements to water access for domestic use gendered? This framework follows the scholarship of Feminist Political Ecology (FPE) which explicates how gendered norms, relations, identities, are prevalent in “determining water access, collection, use, and management”. I have practised the approach of “being there” for 78 days in Kapau, to perform deep dive research in order to engage in daily life and micro-politics that aids in contemplating contextual realities. This was undertaken with phenomenological interviewing and visual sociology to conduct qualitative research for over 50 individuals, maintaining journals and through documentary photography. Hence, in this thesis, I refrained from making any universal claims on its applicability. The research is all about my relationship with the researched. It was the negotiation and contestation of my situated knowledge with theirs. This research looked at how gendered norms affect access to bore well water. Access was realised as control of labour and voice exercised. Control of labour was further studied as mobilizing labour of others and working for others. The ability to control labour was shaped by prevailing institutions. In my case this was manifested through three institutions – i) religious faith - Christianity; ii) cultural practices such as lobola (dowry/bride price), and iii) kitchen party. Determinants like distance, sense of time and accessories (like buckets, ox -carts and sledges) too were influenced by institutions of the place which affected deriving of benefits from bore well water. Voice is understood as ‘ability to contribute to change’. The ability was further explored by examining ‘what is being conveyed’ and ‘by whom’. The articulation of concerns by different individuals, and their further representation were implicitly governed by institutions which gendered the water-related issues, therefore affecting the voice. The differential agency exercised also impacted individuals’ degree to participate and contribute to the change. Both aspects – control of labour, and voice exercised, eventually affected the bargaining power of the individuals. My research demonstrated the direct correlation between labour, voice and access. The routinized practices which the cultural doctrine instituted were realised through aspects of care, altruism, fear and respect. These emotionalities that governed the access further attested the deeply internalised form of oppression. FPE ideology aided in demonstrating such contestations among these relations and dissecting the unequal terrain of the social landscape at a local scale. The research elucidates how the power geometries were reinforced by an everyday object – the bore well
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, in association with EMBARQ-WRJ India has conducted a study for R... more Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, in association with EMBARQ-WRJ India has conducted a study for Re-imagining/ Redevelopment of Manek Chowk precincts in Ahmedabad. Before moving ahead with the project planning, with a view to get feedback, comments and suggestions on the report from the public, the study report consisting pages C-1 to C-57 is uploaded on the AMC's website www.ahmedabadcity.gov.in Therefore, comments and suggestions on the report from the public, if any, are hereby invited by The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, on its e-mail id
Humanities & social sciences communications, May 25, 2024
Transformative research is a broad and loosely connected family of research disciplines and appro... more Transformative research is a broad and loosely connected family of research disciplines and approaches, with the explicit normative ambition to fundamentally question the status quo, change the dominant structures, and support just sustainability transitions by working collaboratively with society. When engaging in such science-practice collaborations for transformative change in society, researchers experience ethical dilemmas. Amongst others, they must decide, what is worthwhile to be researched, whose reality is privileged, and whose knowledge is included. Yet, current institutionalised ethical standards, which largely follow the tradition of medical ethics, are insufficient to guide transformative researchers in navigating such dilemmas. In addressing this vacuum, the research community has started to develop peer guidance on what constitutes morally good behaviour. These formal and informal guidelines offer a repertoire to explain and justify positions and decisions. However, they are only helpful when they have become a part of researchers' practical knowledge 'in situ'. By focusing on situated research practices, the article addresses the need to develop an attitude of leaning into the uncertainty around what morally good behaviour constitutes. It also highlights the significance of combining this attitude with a critical reflexive practice both individually and collaboratively for answering questions around 'how to' as well as 'what is the right thing to do'. Using a collaborative autoethnographic approach, the authors of this paper share their own ethical dilemmas in doing transformative research, discuss those, and relate them to a practical heuristic encompassing axiological, ontological, and epistemological considerations. The aim is to support building practical wisdom for the broader research community about how to navigate ethical questions arising in transformative research practice.
Access to water is understood as the ability to derive benefits from water for a given condition ... more Access to water is understood as the ability to derive benefits from water for a given condition and in a particular situation. However, the benefits (or lack thereof) are reaped differently by men, women and children. The gendered norms thereby play a critical role in the division of labour. The voices which represent these issues also embody such ‘gendered’ differences. Therefore, the objective of this research was to examine the role of gender to access water for domestic consumption, specifically within the existing institutional arrangements of Kapau, Western Province in Zambia. The paper dissects these very institutions which affect meaningful participation of individuals in regards to access to water. Cleaver and Hamada (2010) provided a framework to analyse the gendered concerns of water governance arrangements. Using this approach, this study explores the actors’ ‘room to manoeuvre’ in negotiating with societal norms and practices, thereby aiding in investigating the research question – How are arrangements to water access for domestic use gendered? This framework follows the scholarship of Feminist Political Ecology (FPE) which explicates how gendered norms, relations, identities, are prevalent in “determining water access, collection, use, and management”. I have practised the approach of “being there” for 78 days in Kapau, to perform deep dive research in order to engage in daily life and micro-politics that aids in contemplating contextual realities. This was undertaken with phenomenological interviewing and visual sociology to conduct qualitative research for over 50 individuals, maintaining journals and through documentary photography. Hence, in this thesis, I refrained from making any universal claims on its applicability. The research is all about my relationship with the researched. It was the negotiation and contestation of my situated knowledge with theirs. This research looked at how gendered norms affect access to bore well water. Access was realised as control of labour and voice exercised. Control of labour was further studied as mobilizing labour of others and working for others. The ability to control labour was shaped by prevailing institutions. In my case this was manifested through three institutions – i) religious faith - Christianity; ii) cultural practices such as lobola (dowry/bride price), and iii) kitchen party. Determinants like distance, sense of time and accessories (like buckets, ox -carts and sledges) too were influenced by institutions of the place which affected deriving of benefits from bore well water. Voice is understood as ‘ability to contribute to change’. The ability was further explored by examining ‘what is being conveyed’ and ‘by whom’. The articulation of concerns by different individuals, and their further representation were implicitly governed by institutions which gendered the water-related issues, therefore affecting the voice. The differential agency exercised also impacted individuals’ degree to participate and contribute to the change. Both aspects – control of labour, and voice exercised, eventually affected the bargaining power of the individuals. My research demonstrated the direct correlation between labour, voice and access. The routinized practices which the cultural doctrine instituted were realised through aspects of care, altruism, fear and respect. These emotionalities that governed the access further attested the deeply internalised form of oppression. FPE ideology aided in demonstrating such contestations among these relations and dissecting the unequal terrain of the social landscape at a local scale. The research elucidates how the power geometries were reinforced by an everyday object – the bore well
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, in association with EMBARQ-WRJ India has conducted a study for R... more Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, in association with EMBARQ-WRJ India has conducted a study for Re-imagining/ Redevelopment of Manek Chowk precincts in Ahmedabad. Before moving ahead with the project planning, with a view to get feedback, comments and suggestions on the report from the public, the study report consisting pages C-1 to C-57 is uploaded on the AMC's website www.ahmedabadcity.gov.in Therefore, comments and suggestions on the report from the public, if any, are hereby invited by The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, on its e-mail id
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