Abstract
Karen Hacker’s book Community-Based Participatory Research is a comprehensive introduction to the theory, practical mechanics, and ethical dimensions of community-based participatory research (CBPR). The first two chapters provide an overview of CBPR. In these introductory chapters, the reader is introduced to the conceptual foundations, strengths and weaknesses, and overall principles of CBPR, followed by an important discussion of the power dynamics inherent to community–university partnerships. Using case studies from the field of public health, in the middle three chapters Hacker provides a helpful and wide-ranging guide to CBPR practice. The first of these discusses research design and choice of methods. The following chapter is a step-by-step guide to CBPR, from defining and engaging community on the one end to disseminating results on the other. Hacker follows this with an examination of how to translate research into action. This chapter highlights the need to maintain equitable partnerships that recognize the resources and capacity of both academic and community partners. The book concludes with an important discussion of the ethical considerations of engaging community (as opposed to individuals) in scholarly research. Specifically designed as a teaching tool, Hacker refers to several case studies throughout the book as well as concludes each chapter with questions and activities for further learning.
The CBPR approach as undertaken by Hacker is grounded in emancipatory and feminist approaches to adult education, starting, as Hacker recognizes, with the work of Paulo Freire. This book, however, is not a radical call to arms for scholarly researchers but is rather a pragmatic one. Hacker’s ultimate interest is in improving the validity, authenticity, and rigor of scholarly knowledge production for the purposes of developing stronger and more equitable social and political interventions. Hacker’s interest in CBPR is grounded in a conviction that an emphasis on community engagement can ultimately achieve this goal. To this end, the most important element of Hacker’s book is her emphasis on how researchers need to commit to co-learning, dialogue, trust, and to challenging power relations in the pursuit of knowledge that can be translated into action. In this way, the book makes it abundantly clear that CBPR cannot be approached as just another set of technical research tools but rather as an attitude grounded in humility and a willingness to share power. While this is a tried and true standpoint examined in the wider literature on participatory research, what sets this book apart is how Hacker manages to specify the practical dimensions of this attitude. By focusing on the challenges and opportunities of conducting CBPR, such as those related to time, resources, and capacity, Hacker has produced a pragmatic guide that abhors a romanticized portrayal of community–university research partnerships.
Hacker’s book does a good job at underscoring the need to challenge historically uneven power relations between universities and communities and how this can improve the quality and relevance of socially engaged research. That notwithstanding, I was struck that Hacker made no mention of the current power dynamics occurring within universities, and how these can affect CBPR. Specifically, the well-documented neoliberal transformation of universities demands higher levels of productivity in shorter spans of time (Hartman & Darab, 2012). What are the consequences of this transformation for researchers interested in incorporating a CBPR approach to research? Throughout her book, Hacker stresses how CBPR is an approach that takes time and requires protracted, transparent, and ethical relationships with community members, not to mention a long-term commitment to social action. What is not examined is how this may require sustained resistance on the part of scholars against professional demands that could disrupt theses crucial elements of CBPR (Mountz et al., 2015). It seems as though CBPR may require a commitment to human resources that can unduly constrain academic interests, particularly for junior scholars. Not the least of these is the increasingly onerous pursuit of academic tenure. While this book is clearly written with students in mind, as I was reading this book, I was left with the impression that the practice CBPR is mainly the reserve of senior scholars. In other words, those academics able to gather the human, political, and financial resources required to undertake such a complex and protracted yet socially relevant approach to community-engaged inquiry.
This criticism notwithstanding, in its easy to read and digestible format, this should be required reading for anyone (student, faculty, community member) thinking of undertaking a participatory and community-based approach to research. While this book comes from the field of public health, given its commitment to many of the principles that ground adult education theory and practice, I recommend this book to adult educators both in the academy and in the field. To my knowledge, this book is one of the most comprehensive guides to this approach available.