Developing a Praxis of Solidarity - Community Collective Actions through Expansive Learning

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 7:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Learning in Community: New Perspectives on Agency and Change

Abstract

This paper examines the role of solidarity vis-à-vis community collective actions to resist oppression and mobilize change. The project initially aimed at researching how to build solidarity with, within and between local communities through 3 workshops with 36 community leads (charities, grassroots movements, and third-sector organizations) in England. However, using Engeström's framework of expansive learning actions revealed inherent contradictions in the research activities, shifting the focus toward developing equitable research partnerships. Findings demonstrate that solidarity functions both as the object of collective research-practice activities and as the mediating process for transformation. This research contributes to decolonizing educational research by proposing solidarity as a praxis that challenges deficit approaches and transforms community-university relationships into sites of collective resistance.

Author

• Sophina Choudry, University of Manchester