Lessons from action-research partnerships: LASA/Oxfam America 2004 Martin Diskin Memorial Lecture

Abstract

Peer ReviewedTitle:Lessons from Action-Research Partnerships: LASA/Oxfam America 2004 Martin Diskin MemorialLectureAuthor:Fox, Jonathan A, UCSCPublication Date:02-01-2006Series:Reprint SeriesPublication Info:Reprint Series, Center for Global, International and Regional Studies, UC Santa CruzPermalink:http://escholarship.org/uc/item/65c0g8kwAdditional Info:Originally published as Jonathan Fox, Lessons from Action-Research Partnerships,”Development in Practice, 16 (1), Feb., 2006Keywords:Globalization and Regulation, Social MovementsAbstract:Dr. Martin Diskin was a very engaged and vital member of the Latin American Studies Associationcommunity for some 30 or more years. Martin also gave us [at Oxfam America] 18 years of hislife . . . . He shaped over this period our commitment to human rights. He guided our grant-making in Latin America through several generations of institutional leaders and staff. (He wasaround longer than three directors and some 20 board members.) He encouraged our staff tospeak out forcefully against injustice and to position ourselves as a staunch critic of US foreignpolicy in Central America and Cuba. He demonstrated to us the value of linking research toadvocacy and being informed and strategic advocates. Most importantly, he modeled for us howto be courageous, tough-minded, outspoken and sail against the wind. . . He embodied thequintessential activist academic.Oxfam America wishes to remember Martin through this lectureship as a way of putting a #ag in theground in his honor that commemorates: his commitment to human rights activism; his propheticvoice in a world so in need of courage and hopeful vision; his commitment to academic rigor inservice of humanity; and his generosity as mentor and friend. (Remarks by Raymond Offenheiser,President, Oxfam America, at the Latin American Studies Association Congress, Chicago, IL, 25September 1998.)