From Consent to Mutual Inquiry:Balancing Democracy and Authority in Action Research

Sonia Ospina; Jennifer Dodge; Bethany Godsoe; Joan Minieri; Salvador Reza; Ellen Schall

doi:10.1177/1476750304040494

From Consent to Mutual Inquiry:Balancing Democracy and Authority in Action Research

Sonia Ospina, Jennifer Dodge, Bethany Godsoe, Joan Minieri, Salvador Reza, Ellen Schall

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The Leadership for a Changing World (LCW) program is a joint endeavor between the Ford Foundation, the Advocacy Institute, and the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. This paper focuses on the experiences of the Research and Documentation component of LCW – lead by a research team from the Wagner School – during the initial implementation phases of the research. This component formed an inquiry group consisting of both academic researchers and social change practitioners to collaboratively explore and discover the ways in which communities doing social change engage in the work of leadership. We used group relations theory to understand a series of critical dilemmas and contradictions experienced by the coresearchers. This paper identifies four such paradoxes that center around issues of democracy and authority.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	47-69
Number of pages	23
Journal	Action Research
Volume	2
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1476750304040494
State	Published - Mar 2004

Keywords

action research
group relations
leadership
paradox
social change

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Sociology and Political Science
Strategy and Management
Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

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10.1177/1476750304040494

Cite this

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AU - Schall, Ellen

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AB - The Leadership for a Changing World (LCW) program is a joint endeavor between the Ford Foundation, the Advocacy Institute, and the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. This paper focuses on the experiences of the Research and Documentation component of LCW – lead by a research team from the Wagner School – during the initial implementation phases of the research. This component formed an inquiry group consisting of both academic researchers and social change practitioners to collaboratively explore and discover the ways in which communities doing social change engage in the work of leadership. We used group relations theory to understand a series of critical dilemmas and contradictions experienced by the coresearchers. This paper identifies four such paradoxes that center around issues of democracy and authority.

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From Consent to Mutual Inquiry:Balancing Democracy and Authority in Action Research

Abstract

Keywords

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