Poli225 Midterm

3 pillars of CER

reciprocal partnerships/co-learning, rigorous production of knowledge, capacity building/ empowerment

engaged scholarship order

isolated, CPR, CBR, CBPR, critically engaged, rooted

types of engaged scholarship

CPR: research is in the community but they aren’t involved

CBR: researcher asks for community expertise and collects info

CBPR: community involved in all aspects (collect data too)

Youth participatory action research: youths/adults act to benefit an organization in a larger community

critically engaged: informed by critical theory

community rooted research: informed by critical theory and extracts from university

critical theory analyzes society to find and question power structures and social inequalities

Arnstein’s Ladder (levels of community control, manipulation → citizen control)

manipulation → therapy → informing → consultation → placation → partnership → delegation → citizen control

non-participation: manipulation and therapy- educating “have nots”: teaching importance of voting

tokenism: informing- informing citizens of their rights: teaching rights around voting

tokenism: consultation- inviting community opinions: survey of attitudes/measuring participation

tokenism: placation- few community members involved but can be easily overridden

citizen control: partnership- communities share planning/decision

citizen control: delegated power- communities hold enough power to hold program accountable

citizen control: citizen contol- communities have full power over the program

Van Der Vossen

pro isolated research: if you are in a role, you should avoid things that make you bad at your job. since political philosophers seek the truth about politics, they should avoid being politically active because it makes us worse at seeking the truth.

1. principle of responsible professionalism

2. political philosophers should seek the truth

3. political activism biases thinking

Serrano et all

Pro community-rooted research: critical race theory can improve research through a social justice lens, we can use university rools to build power within communities, we can tackle problems that are actually relevant to the communities

examples of Van der Vossen’s definition of activism

member of political party, campaigning, donating, volunteering with advocacy groups, organizing, putting up yard signs

community identification matrix

x-axis: socially recognized to politically recognized

y-axis: everyday politics to elite politics

socially & everyday: grassroots like neighborhood groups and community-based organizations

politically & everyday: bureaucracy like state/local departments

politically & elite: institutions like independent agencies and orgs with state enforcement powers

socially & elite: non-gov like NGOs and nonprofits

theories of community

classical sociological: community is society, natural will is rational will, community is based on tradition and emotion

urbanization and ecology: need to secure resources, characterized by ecological processes like competition, dominance, and succession, and compeititon divides humans into subgroups — community is geography and competitive social units

community studies: case studies, geographical obsewrvations, local and social political forces in an area

symbolic interactionism: common characteristics and specific rights/obligation, broader geographically, people believe their fate is tied to the groups

marxism and political economy: spatial configuration based on capital accumulation, state plays a role, class plays a role, business cycles shape them

political science: social capital, political behavior, and polarization

ways of defining community in CER

geography, identity, political agency, power - people who are affected by similar social, cultural, or political concerns

geography, place, and space: neighborhood, town, state, country

identity, beliefs, and common interests: goals, experiences

power and agency: mobilized interests, profession/practice

functions of community

political: shaping democracy locally, political knowledge, challenge power

social: cultural production, emerges from economic changes, external for how others see the community (marginalized, scapegoats), and internal for how they see themselves

psychological/moral: interact with like-minded people, inherent morals

wilson and kelling

broken windows policing: safety is about feelings and perceptions of crime, visible signs of disorder signal neglect and invite further criminal activity, to fix crime policy must fix signs of disorder

policing portals project

14 portals staffed by community member where community-building events were held before conversations were recorded. During the convos, people were asked 12 questions.

findings: policing is racially extractive, public space is seen as profitable, race-based watching restricts personal/economic potential, targeting by police leads to fear in community

quantitative research

things that can be counted or measured

discrete: coutnable with no fractions (people)

continuous: measurement within a range (height)

qualitative research

the why or how behind behavior or experiences

nominal: labels or names with no ranking (colors)

ordinal: labels with meaningful order (poor to okay)

developing research partnerships

equity&capacity (skills and resources), alignment (reputation and goals), institutional framework (meetings, who does what), memorandum of understanding (outlines responsibilities and expectations)

developing research questions

use community and researcher expertise, but put more emphasis on community problems- questions can be pre-specified or based on community interviews

positionality

process of understanding our social position and identity relative to others and the work we engage in

factors: social identity, aims of research, power structures between university and community, what everyone gains

finding positionality: how do you feel about the subject being researched, how do you view yourself, how do you view the participants, how do they see you, how do you feel about the context and process

statements: researcher’s lens (philosophical, personal), influences on research (demographics, career, political beliefs), researcher’s position about participants

reflexivity

addressing our positionality through the research process (to see if it impacts research questions, data points, what i expect myself/others to do in the research process)

informal: internal check-ins

formal: personal written reflections