Call for communication

Plural Ethnographies #13

International and Interdisciplinary Conference

Ethnography and Participatory Research.

Current State and Forms of Action Research in Social Sciences.

17-19th of january 2024

Amphithéâtre de la MILC

Maison internationale des langues et des cultures (MILC), Lyon (France)

Call for contributions

Argument

The question of the forms of ethnographic intervention is both old and constantly being renewed. It is linked to major issues concerning social and cultural transformations between science and society, social, environmental, economic and political issues, the ways in which anthropology is involved and applied , as well as sociology and the variety of professions open to social sciences. Today's social and environmental challenges have renewed the long-standing interest in combining knowledge related to science, action and experience that respond "both to the practical concerns of people in an immediate problematic situation and to the goals of social science by joint collaboration within a mutually acceptable ethical scheme". (Rapoport, 1970). Citizens engage with scientists, and vice versa, in the production of knowledge that can be used for action and can play a transformative role. This "participatory science and research" movement (Houillier, 2016) has been particularly developed and structured in recent years through "science shops", living labs, open labs, fab labs, foundaries, third places, etc. and regional or national funding (PIA3, PIA4, SAPS labelling of universities, ANR Participatory Research 2022 and 2023), to the extent that since 2017 exists a Participatory Science Charter in France.

This conference aims to explore the links and resonances between ethnography and forms of action research and participatory science. We know how important it is to analyse the request or order at the outset in all forms of action research.This process is not limited to the beginning, but continues throughout the intervention. Similarly, in ethnography, access to the field, at the start of the survey, is central and largely determines the success of the research and the ethnographer's commitment.

This point highlights the delicate issue of the famous axiological neutrality in social science research, a neutrality that is allegedly lacking in participatory forms of action research. But "there is no such thing as neutral observation, a pure gaze that leaves the phenomena it focuses on unchanged. The observer is also an actor. [...] What he is told, what he is given to see, can never be dissociated from the specific characteristics of the investigative situation" (Schwartz, 1993: 271-272). As a result, a social situation or a group is first questioned silently by the researcher's entrance before it is even questioned verbally by the researcher. Reactions to the researcher's presence and the ways in which it is refused, resisted or accepted must therefore be considered as survey data in their own right. The techniques for neutralising the survey situation, the desire to achieve an authentic social reality and the desire to obtain pure research data can all be considered illusions in this perspective. "The reality of the survey is first and foremost the reality it produces" (Schwartz, 1993: 272), and the anthropologist must seek to objectify the processes at play in the research situation itself. In other words, it is a question of recognising the impossibility of a position of pure exteriority for the participating observer. Hence the need for a reflexive analysis of the dynamic set in motion by the request for investigation, because in the interactions a process of counter-interpretation of the 'observer' by the 'observed' is put in place. It is therefore a question of thinking about this reciprocity of observation at the heart of the investigative relationship and using it as a tool for knowledge (Papinot, 2014: 116-122).

This conference seeks to interrogate ethnography in an intervention situation (i.e. where it assumes a proactive form of social and cultural transformation), from the perspective of the various forms of action research: classic action research, collaborative research, participatory research, partnership research, public research, negotiated research, embedded research, community-based research, research-creation, open-air research, etc. This plurality of denominations and practices brings to the fore different conceptions of the intervention of social sciences, which nevertheless converge through common characteristic features. The different methods and branches of action research all claim a dual objective of bringing about concrete change in the socio-cultural system and producing knowledge about it, attaching as much importance to action as a means of transforming reality as to scientific research as a means of understanding this reality and developing knowledge. This objective means that the participation of civil society and grassroots players is a fundamental principle of participatory research. The three key dimensions of this research mechanism - change, the development of knowledge and the intervention of the researcher - have different meanings depending on the epistemological framework and the vision of social and cultural reality that they support.

This conference wishes to review the forms of experience and methods of ethnography in situations of action research, participation and collaboration with players and groups in civil society in the fields of popular education, the environment and ecological transition, planning, urban development, health, social work, solidarity economy, education, public action, art, sport and leisure and so on. The aim is to explore the different forms that intervention situations can take in the field of anthropology, sociology and the social sciences more generally, as well as the multiple translations, mediations and negotiations that they entail. The conference strives to provide an overview of these diverse experiences and their links with ethnography. One of the goals is to contribute to the emergence of a community (scientific, technical and civic) mobilised by action-research mechanisms and by the concern for participatory democracy that they imply.

What are the links between ethnographic research and social or cultural demand today? What kinds of participation, collaboration, co-construction and hybridisation are we seeing between ethnography and action research, researchers and social actors? What forms does this take? What changes are taking place between yesterday's experiences and those of today? What are the theoretical frameworks, connections and possibilities? What methodologies and tools are involved? What does it question and reveal, both in terms of social practices and the forms taken by research in social sciences and humanities today? What knowledge is produced? How is it shared, and who benefits from it? How is it received in the academic field and in civil society? What epistemological frameworks are they linked to? What are the dimensions of the action and transformation at work? How can they be assessed? How are they adapted by the participants? 

The conference is aimed at an international audience of researchers in social sciences (anthropology, ethnology, ergonomics, sociology, political science, geography, educational sciences, architecture, urban planning, etc.), practitioners, professionals, activists and volunteers involved in collaborative experiments and the co-construction of a form of action research. To this end, we will be giving priority to multi-voice communications (researcher/actor), and all speakers will be given an equal say, so as to allow a variety of experiences and analyses to be expressed. This is also a way of bringing together different points of view in situ. The empirical approach, based on ethnography and fieldwork, and a critical, reflexive stance, will be used to understand, compare and question the uses of these participatory research mechanisms, their operating mechanisms and the theoretical and practical issues involved.

The work presented must fall within the broad definition of ethnography and participatory research, and may relate to the implementation of the research and action process, its analysis, reception and impact, etc. Proposals for contributions may also fall under one of the following six headings:

1-The boundaries of ethnography and participatory research

2-The scales of involvement and participation: commitment, intervention, activism

3-Research methodology, framework and toolbox

4-Knowledge in action, knowledge of action

5-Research and creation, participation and action

6-Limits and criticisms of participatory research

How to submit

Language of contribution : French or English.

Contributions may describe research and collaboration of various kinds  (theoretical, empirical, etc.) and practical schemes that have been carried out, are under way or will be

These contributions may :

• form part of a round table or workshop involving a minimum of three contributions ;
• be the subject of an individual or group contribution (20') that the organising committee will include in a session withother presentations.

Proposals for papers (maximum 2500 characters, including spaces) must present the subject of the research, the questions and issues, the field and the methodology used.

Proposals should include the following elements in the order in which they appear:

• Surname and first name of the author(s)
• Position and institution
• E-mail address
• Title of the paper
• Contribution proposal (maximum 2500 characters including spaces)
• A selective bibliography (3 to 5 references) 
• 5 key words

Proposals (maximum 2,500 characters including spaces) must be submitted no later than the 30th of September 2023 (name your file as follows: Name-Colloque ethnopart 2024.doc) on the platform dedicated to the conference:https://ethno-rech-part.sciencesconf.org/

Proposals will be selected on the basis of their scientific quality and the originality of the empirical or theoretical material used, or on the relevance and quality of the approach to the experience described. Detailed abstracts (8,000 characters including spaces) of accepted presentations will appear in the volume published for the conference.

If you have any questions, please contact us at the following address : ethno-rech-part@sciencesconf.org

Schedule 

 -Launch of the call for presentations on national and international networks (July 2023)

-Registration deadline: 25th of September 2023

-Proposals for contributions (maximum 2500 characters, including spaces) are to be submitted using the model “modele_depot_resume_ethno-rech-part" must be submitted by the 30th of September 2023 at the latest on the platform dedicated to the conference:

 https://ethno-rech-part.sciencesconf.org/

-A reply will be sent by e-mail no later than the 23rd of October 2023.

-The detailed abstract (8,000 characters including spaces, including bibliography) using the model  “modele_depot_publ_ethno-rech-part" must be submitted by the 16th of December 2023 in word and pdf format on the dedicated platform. It will appear in the proceedings of the conference.

-Registration deadline: 18th of December 2023.

-A publication is expected at the end of the conference, in spring 2025.

Organising committee

Argouarch Léo, PhD doctoral student in anthropology, Université Lumière Lyon 2, EVS

Leveau Ludivine, doctoral student in anthropology, Université Lumière Lyon 2, EVS

Mandon Claire, Manager, Université Lumière Lyon 2, EVS

Raveneau Gilles, PU, anthropologist, Université Lumière Lyon 2, EVS

Scientific committee

Adell Nicolas, PU in anthropology, Université de Toulouse 2-Jean Jaurès, LISST, Toulouse

Béguin Pascal, PU in ergonomics, Université Lumière Lyon 2, EVS, Lyon

Boissière Thierry, MCF in anthropology, Université Lumière Lyon 2, EVS, Lyon 

Botea Bianca, MCF HDR in anthropology, Université Lumière Lyon 2, LADEC, Lyon

Boukala Mouloud, PU in anthropology, Université du Québec, CELAT, Montréal (Canada)

Casse Christelle, MCF in ergonomics, Université Lumière Lyon 2, EVS, Lyon

Cerclet Denis, MCF HDR in anthropology, Université Lumière Lyon 2, EVS, Lyon

Chauliac Marina, CR in anthropology at the CNRS, LAP-LAHIC, Paris

Deboos Salomé, PU in anthropology, Université Lumière Lyon 2, LADEC, Lyon

Duriez Tiphaine, MCF in anthropology, Université Lumière Lyon 2, LADEC, Lyon

Fogel Frédérique, DR in anthropology at the CNRS, LESC, Paris

Fournier Laurent Sébastien, PU in anthropology, Université Côte d’Azur, LAPCOS, Nice

Frétigné Cédric, PU in educational sciences, Université Paris Est Créteil, LIRTES, Créteil

Gibert Marie-Pierre, MCF in anthropology, Université Lumière Lyon 2, EVS, Lyon

Givre Olivier, MCF in anthropology, Université Lumière Lyon 2, EVS, Lyon

Guïoux Axel, MCF in anthropology, Université Lumière Lyon 2, EVS, Lyon

Lasserre Evelyne, MCF in anthropology, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, EVS, Lyon

Maurines Béatrice, PU in sociology, Université Lumière Lyon 2, Centre Max Weber, Lyon

Monjaret Anne, DR in anthropology at the CNRS, LAP-LAHIC, SEF, Paris

Nicolas-Le Strat Pascal, PU in educational sciences, Université Paris 8, Experice, La Plaine Saint-Denis

Raveneau Gilles, PU in anthropology, Université Lumière Lyon 2, EVS, SEF, Lyon

Ravon Bertrand, PU in sociology, Université Lumière Lyon 2, Centre Max Weber, Lyon

Reis Mota Fabio, PU in anthropology, Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), INCT, Rio de Janeiro (Brésil)

Serre Solveig, DR in musicology at the CNRS, CESR, Tours

Soulet Marc-Henri, PU in sociology, Université de Fribourg, Fribourg (Suisse)

Tuaillon Demésy Audrey, PU in STAPS, Université de Franche-Comté, C3S, Besançon

Walsh Andrew, MCF in anthropology, University of Western Ontario, CRSH, London (Canada)

Further reading

Alary, J., (1988). Solidarités, pratiques de recherche-action et de prise en charge par le milieu. Montréal : Boréal.

Audoux, C., & Gillet, A., (2011). « Recherche partenariale et co-construction de savoirs entre chercheurs et acteurs », revue Interventions économiques, n° 43.

Bazin, H., (2018). « Les enjeux d'une science citoyenne au cœur de la société, in Hugues

Bazin (dir.) Recherche-action et écriture réflexive : la pratique innovante des espaces comme levier de transformation sociale », Cahiers de l'action no 51-52, Jeunesses, pratiques et territoires, Institut national de la jeunesse et de l'éducation populaire, Observatoire de la jeunesse, de l'éducation populaire et de la vie associative (INJEP).

Bonetti, M., Fraisse, J., & De Gaulejac, V. (1995). L'ingénierie sociale. Paris, France : Syros.

Bonny, Y., (2015). Les recherches partenariales participatives : ce que chercher veut dire, in Les chercheurs ignorants, Les recherches-actions collaboratives, une révolution de la connaissance. Paris, France : Presses de l'EHESP, p.36-43.

Bourassa, B., (2015), « Recherche(s)-actions(s) : de quoi parle-t-on ? »  in Les chercheurs ignorants, Les recherches-actions collaboratives, une révolution de la connaissance. Paris, France : Presses de l'EHESP, p.32-35

De Champlain, Y. (2011). L'écriture en recherche qualitative : le défi du rapport à l'expérience. Recherches qualitatives, coll. hors-série « les Actes » association pour la recherche qualitative.

Doucet, M.-C. & Dumas, L., (2015), « La recherche-action collaborative comme activité dialogique », in Les chercheurs ignorants, Les recherches-actions collaboratives, une révolution de la connaissance. Paris, France : Presses de l'EHESP.

Giroux, S., & Tremblay, G. (2002). Méthodologie des sciences humaines : La recherche en action (2ème éd.). Montréal, Canada : Paerson.

Goyette, G. & Lessard-Hébert, M., (1987). La recherche-action, ses fonctions, ses fondements et ses instrumentations. Québec : Presses Universitaires du Québec.

Houillier, F., Merilhou-Goudard J-B., (2016). Les sciences participatives en France : États des lieux, bonnes pratiques et recommandations, rapport.

Lassiter, L. E., (2005). « Collaborative Ethnography and Public Anthropology », Current Anthropology, Vol. 46, n°1, p. 83-106.

Lavoie, L., Marquis, D. & Laurin, P., (2008). La recherche-action : théorie et pratique : manuel d'autoformation. Sainte-Foy, Presses Universitaires de Québec.

Les chercheurs ignorants, (2015), Les recherches-actions collaboratives, une révolution de la connaissance. Paris, France : Presses de l'EHESP.

Liu, M., (2002/1997), Fondements et pratiques de la recherche-action. Paris : L'Harmattan.

Lyet, Ph., (2015), in Les chercheurs ignorants. Les recherches-actions collaboratives, processus de collaboration chercheurs et praticiens dans les recherche-actions. Paris : Presses de l'EHESP.

Manning Erin, Massumi Brian, (2018). Pensée en acte, vingt propositions pour la recherche-création, Paris : ArTeC ; Dijon : Les Presses du réel.

Mayer, R., Ouellet, F., St-Jacques, M.-C., & Turcotte, D. (2000). Méthodes de recherche en intervention sociale, Boucherville, Canada : Editions Gaëtan Morin.

Morin, A., (1997). « La recherche-action intégrale, lieu de modélisation, d'approches méthodologiques complémentaires de recherche ». Revue Recherches qualitatives de l'association pour la Recherche qualitative.

Papinot, C., (2014). La relation d’enquête comme relation sociale. Paris: Presses de l’université Laval et Hermann éditions.

Paturel, D., & Simon, A. (2011). Projets de développement des territoires et participation des habitants : le diagnostic partagé, outil méthodologique via l'intermédiation sociale. Pensée plurielle, 3, vol.28.

Petit, S., Soulard, C.-T., (2015). « Rencontres par-delà les frontières : l'analyse du dispositif pour et sur le développement régional ». Dans les chercheurs ignorants (dir), Les recherches-actions collaboratives, une révolution de la connaissance, Paris, France : Presses de l'EHESP.

Resweber, J-P., (1995). La recherche-action. Paris :  PUF.

Schwartz, O., (1993). « L'empirisme irréductible ». In: Anderson, Niels. Le hobo, sociologie du sans-abri. Nathan.

Tochon, F.V. (2004). La recherche-intervention éducative. Montréal : Presses de l'Université du Québec.