Challenges and Benefits of Community-Based Participatory Research for Environmental Justice: A Case of Collaboratively Examining Ecocultural Struggles

Abstract

This essay features critical reflections on a process of generative community-based participatory research (CBPR) in which communication researchers collaborated with environmental organizations, cultural advocacy groups, and community participants to identify better ways of addressing ecocultural struggles. In response to Depoe's call to promote scholar–practitioner interactions, the authors make explicit challenges and benefits implicated in employing a CBPR process to promote environmental justice. This critical reflective analysis centers on three key issues related to engaging in CBPR-oriented praxis-based research. The findings challenge the researcher's role as the initiator of a community-university collaborative project, broaden the notion of community in CBPR, and promote multiple analytical perspectives that can speak to diverse partner-stakeholders. The authors conclude with a conceptualization of how CBPR can aid in promoting environmental justice as both a goal and a process and offer practical recommendations.