Rowell, L. L., Bruce, C. D., Shosh, J. S. & Riel, M. M. (Eds.). (2017). The Palgrave international handbook of action research. NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Abstract

The ambitious goal of The Palgrave International Handbook on Action Research is “to present a fairly comprehensive overview and illustrative examples of the work being done internationally by people affiliated with what we call the global action research community” (p. xi). The editors represent a breadth of AR experience: an editor of Educational Action Research and founding member of ARNA (Rowell), another founding member of ARNA and collaborative action researcher in schools (Bruce), Education Department chair and director of an AR-based graduate education program at Moravian College (Shosh), and the director of CCAR and co-editor of the International Handbook of Action Research (Riel). They emphasize that the Handbook is not a “How To” for organizing action research, but rather a compendium of information with the goal of contributing to an “alternative globalization,” (p. 5 and Chapter 49) one that would arise from the kind of “knowledge democracies”(p. xiii and Chapter 5) inspired by the work of Fals Borda, Freire, and others. The editors’ unabashed aim is to promote action research (AR) in the service of social justice (p. xvi).