A Collaborative Autoethnography of Emotional Labour and the Role of Compassion in Community-Engaged Participatory Action Research

Abstract

ABSTRACT Emotional labour (EL) is an integral and inextricable, organic aspect of human interaction and research. This paper offers the reflections of activist researchers on the nuances of EL and compassion when conducting community-engaged participatory action research in low-income settings. The authors employed critical collaborative autoethnography and reflexivity to disentangle their reflections on EL. The results comprise their testimonials (journal entries and reflections), while the discussion focuses on several themes that reflect a rich tapestry of collective experiential learnings and conversations. The EL process manifested the following themes: labour of love, looking inward: reflections of disquietude; internal and external conflict, emotional engagement and human loss; and emotional labour. The authors recognise that EL must transcend privilege, positionality and power dynamics, and that researchers must espouse compassion, empathy, mindfulness and active listening when interacting with individuals in an organisation and/or with community members. This recognition may promote solace, humaneness and efficiency when expanding EL within the context of community-engaged participatory action research.