Maintaining a Network of Critical Connections over Time and Space: The Case of CARN, the Collaborative Action Research Network

Abstract

Here, three members of Collaborative Action Research Network (CARN)’s Co-ordinating Group reflect on CARN’s history as a developing network. We outline its philosophical and value-based underpinnings and its growth across different professional and practice contexts. We present a narrative of change, tracing tensions over its governance, its response to crisis, its intent to embrace diversity, and, more recently, the challenges posed by upholding its values in a world increasingly dominated by market forces and computer-mediated communications. We discuss these in relation to the CARN Study Day scheme and our recent action research consultation with members and supporters. Despite the amplification of offline hegemony in the online world, we argue that networks such as CARN have distinctive insights for developing new communicative spaces that combine virtual with face-to-face contact.