PARTICIPATORY METHODOLOGIES IN COMMUNITY PROJECTS

The theme of participation is recurrent in almost all approaches and models of social intervention and qualitative research in contemporary societies. An "almost fashionable option" to which all adhere regardless of the... [ view full abstract ]

The theme of participation is recurrent in almost all approaches and models of social intervention and qualitative research in contemporary societies. An "almost fashionable option" to which all adhere regardless of the context of development or the true interests or impact of this way of confronting and operationalize democracy. Insert citizen participation in political decision-making is even a requirement that policy makers, practitioners and stakeholders cannot alienate. However, the analysis that participation has assumed, by reference to populist, adaptive or social transformation and development opportunities, increased decision making (both personal and societal trends), and thereby intervene actively with policy implications.
Today there are several theoretical approaches to the assumptions and models to intervene in a socially just and equitable way, or to produce knowledge based on proximity in order to discover senses and meanings attributed to social facts, recovering what is in the shadows, beyond the objectivity of quantitative information. Participation takes therefore an important role in processes of intervention, research and evaluation, and so it’s not a passive variable. Recognizing the intrinsically associated utility character to any professional act, a kind of panacea packer discourses of empowerment, used mainly in contexts of vulnerability and poverty, the intervention and innovative projects don’t escape this discursive logic.
One of the great desiderata of participation is reflected in the increased power of decision making and the co-construction of social alternatives and opportunity structures. But How is this participatory logic effective?
Besides the theoretical approach and identification of implementation models of participatory logic in the social field, the text gives an account of the analysis of projects and experiences developed in several thematic areas and in different geographical contexts of Portugal, a work that has been produced to over the last 3 years of teaching and research at the graduate degree level education.