Abstract
In Just Research in Contentious Times, Michelle Fine outlines the need for a radically participatory approach to research, reminding the reader that, even and especially in our research as academicians, the personal is political. Beginning with her own subjective experience and context, the author opens with the exact starting point she urges researchers to employ in their work. In Chapter 2, she outlines the necessity of “critical bifocality,” examining the complicated subjective narratives of marginalized individuals which reflect systemic problems within the society. She discusses research with school “pushouts” (young people who were pushed out of oppressive schools) who long for better educational opportunities, and her work with Muslim American youth desiring to be seen as whole people in a society that sees them as “other.”
In the subsequent chapters, Fine more explicitly examines the pragmatics of putting research into action, focusing again on young people who are disadvantaged by the existing American public school systems. She shares her work with the very students who interact with these systems and their attempts to change policies for the betterment of their own lives. In these chapters, she challenges academic researchers to modify and even eliminate their own notions of betterment when the individuals in question disagree with those conceptions. She provides multiple examples of Critical Participatory Action Research (PAR), in which the traditional “objects” of research become agents for change through their active participation in research guided by principles of social justice. And she speaks directly to the essentiality of intersectional perspectives against a backdrop of participatory research involving LGBTQ+/Gender Non-Conforming (GNC) youth. She closes the book with a return to her own personal context and a reminder to readers that those of us who are undertaking to understand the social realities of people who differ from ourselves must actively seek engagement with those individuals and refuse to lock ourselves in the ivory towers of academe.
Throughout the book, Fine asks us to widen the lens through which we engage in research by inviting individuals who are typically the subject of research to lead such studies. She calls us to engage in PAR—a method which calls to mind Hunter S. Thompson’s journalistic enterprises. She provides outstanding examples of her own work in the form of inspiring and pragmatic illustrations. She introduces us to brave individuals from all walks of life who are participating in hard conversations and undertakings with those who have different experiences from their own.
Fine places her own commitment to PAR in the context of others who have come before her, frequently referencing individuals within and outside the social sciences. Moreover, she encourages us to think outside of the typical categories that social science creates as a way of better understanding human behavior. Instead, she urges us to boldly refuse categorization and to more fully embrace the intersectionality of ourselves and those with whom we practice research.
Fine reawakens the spark that initially brought us to research and reminds us of the importance of doing work with a broader purpose. In her world, PAR not only leads us to a better understanding of the world around us but also spurs us on to join with movements for social change and liberation. The perspective she outlines—and the poetic voice she brings to the table—would be a welcome addition to any undergraduate or graduate course in the research methods.