Abstract
Participatory action research (PAR) has been offered up as a methodological orientation for public sociology. The challenges of PAR at the local level have been well documented. In contrast, PAR with the labour movement, in particular international meta-organisations such as global trade union federations, has received short shrift. We demonstrate how partisan scholars working with the labour movement can engage with both the different logics of collective action and the different levels of worker representation in pursuit of (political) emancipation. To illustrate how PAR can be ‘scaled up’ from the local to the global, we reflect on our participation with the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF). This revealed three particular perils of PAR – personal, purpose and political – that partisan scholars must navigate in order to foster action and emancipation by research. While PAR is an affirming process for our research partners, it is not a panacea for their problems.
Highlights
The risks of globalisation for workers are better understood when sociologists work with the labour movement through participatory action research (PAR), ‘a complex strategy for orchestrating processes of democratizing social reform’ (Greenwood, 2007: 146)
In the case of seafarers on short-sea ferries in European waters, we identify opportunities for union organising when the vessels of particular shipping lines call in specific ports, which has the potential to bring direct and immediate improvements in seafarers’ terms and conditions of employment
For many advocates of public sociology in general, and partisan scholarship in particular, PAR is a welcome change of tack towards a more democratic and progressive way to engage with personal troubles, social issues and public problems (Brook and Darlington, 2013)
Summary
The risks of globalisation for workers are better understood when sociologists work with the labour movement through participatory action research (PAR), ‘a complex strategy for orchestrating processes of democratizing social reform’ (Greenwood, 2007: 146). In the case of seafarers on short-sea ferries in European waters, we identify opportunities for union organising when the vessels of particular shipping lines call in specific ports, which has the potential to bring direct and immediate improvements in seafarers’ terms and conditions of employment.
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