The Impact of Co-production: From Community Engagement to Social Justice (Connected Communities)

"Bringing together academics, artists, practitioners and 'community activists', this book explores the possibilities for, and tensions of, social justice work under the contemporary drive for community-orientated 'impact' in the academy. Threading a line between celebratory accounts of institutionalised community engagement, self-professed 'radical' scholarship for social change and critical accounts of the governmentalisation of community, the book makes an original contribution to all three fields of scholarship. Showcasing experimental research and co-production practices taking place in the UK, Australia, Sweden and Canada and within universities, independent research organisations and internationally prestigious museums and galleries, the book considers what research impact could look like for a wide range of audiences and how universities could engage with different publics in ways that would be relevant and useful, but may not necessarily be easily measurable. Asking hard questions of the current impact agenda, the book offers an insight into emerging routes towards co-production for social justice"--Publisher's description THE IMPACT OF CO-PRODUCTION Contents List of figures Notes on contributors Acknowledgements Series editors’ foreword Introduction 1. Enabling conditions for communities and universities to work together: a journey of university public engagement Introduction Public engagement in higher education in the UK University public engagement in practice Learning from the journey Enabling conditions for effective public engagement within higher education Conclusion 2. Understanding impact and its enabling conditions: learning from people engaged in collaborative research Introduction Collaborative research in practice Persian women’s group Arabic-speaking women’s group Identifying and articulating impact Conclusion 3. Emphasising mutual benefit: rethinking the impact agenda through the lens of Share Academy Introduction Share Academy Case studies Challenges and benefits of collaborative practice Conclusions and next steps 4. From poverty to life chances: framing co-produced research in the Productive Margins programme Introduction Engagement at the margins: a shared history of exclusion, dissent and empowerment Sites of experimentation Co-production, equality and time The research process: the impact of co-production across disciplinary boarders The impact of institutional regulatory systems on co-produced research Final reflections on the impact and challenges of co-produced research 5. Methodologically sound? Participatory research at a community radio station Introduction Youth-led participatory research Observant participation Participatory focus groups Methodologically sound? Concluding remarks 6. The regulatory aesthetics of co-production Introduction Research questions Context KWMC creative, regulatory and evaluation contexts Projects Conclusion 7. Participatory mapping and engagement with urban water communities Introduction Towards sustainability and culture-led sustainable development Participatory creative methods Engaging with water communities Conclusion 8. Hacking into the Science Museum: young trans people disrupt the power balance of gender ‘norms’ in the museum’s ‘Who Am I?’ gallery Introduction Establishing the partnership The project Objects on display: capturing otherness Partnership: power at work Legacy Conclusion 9. Mapping in, on, towards Aboriginal space: trading routes and an ethics of artistic inquiry Introduction Collaborative approach Indigenous worldviews: where do we begin? When or where are we now? Mapping dialects: map sites of difference Relational mapping: walking away from a conclusion 10. Adapting to the future: vulnerable bodies, resilient practices Introduction The Walking Interconnections project Context From marginal to valuable Walking interconnections Walking as a participatory research method Interventions into walking discourse Embodied wisdoms Resilient knowledge Conclusion Coda Conclusion: Reflections on contemporary debates in co-production studies Introduction An analysis of process-oriented research and its agency Advancing the debates Discussion and conclusion References Index "Bringing together academics, artists, practitioners and 'community activists', this book explores the possibilities for, and tensions of, social justice work under the contemporary drive for community-orientated 'impact' in the academy. Threading a line between celebratory accounts of institutionalised community engagement, self-professed 'radical' scholarship for social change and critical accounts of the governmentalisation of community, the book makes an original contribution to all three fields of scholarship. Showcasing experimental research and co-production practices taking place in the UK, Australia, Sweden and Canada and within universities, independent research organisations and internationally prestigious museums and galleries, the book considers what research impact could look like for a wide range of audiences and how universities could engage with different publics in ways that would be relevant and useful, but may not necessarily be easily measurable. Asking hard questions of the current impact agenda, the book offers an insight into emerging routes towards co-production for social justice"--Résumé de l'éditeur This book brings together scholars, artists, practitioners, and community activists to explore the possibilities for — and tensions of — social justice work through collaboration between communities and the academy. Amid a widespread institutional emphasis on increased involvement and co-production with the community, what can we expect when long-established community-oriented research practices collide with the day-to-day work of activism? How should we think about the key tenets and terms of that research, and the ongoing critique of them mounted by activists, artists, and other community members? Deploying case studies from the United Kingdom, Australia, Sweden, and Canada, and taking in universities, independent research organizations, and museums and galleries, this book breaks new ground in our understanding of the possibilities, and pitfalls, of co-production Bringing together academics, artists, practitioners and 'community activists', this text explores the possibilities for, and tensions of, social justice work under the contemporary drive for community-orientated 'impact' in the academy. Threading a line between celebratory accounts of institutionalised community engagement, self-professed 'radical' scholarship for social change and critical accounts of the governmentalisation of community, it makes an original contribution to all three fields of scholarship This text brings together academics, artists, practitioners and ‘community activists’ to explore the possibilities for and tensions of social justice work under the contemporary drive for community-oriented ‘impact’ in the academy.