Contributions and limitations of diverse qualitative methods to feminist participatory and action research with women in the wake of gross violations of human rights

Abstract

This article explores several qualitative research methods deployed in three case studies in which activist feminist scholars trained in the global north engaged in participatory research processes with Indigenous women in Guatemala and Peru and with Latina migrants in the United States. We authors accompanied these women as they resisted oppressive conditions, engaged in healing processes, and persisted in transforming their lives towards realizing a better future for themselves and their families in the context of continuous violence and impoverishment. The article explores sometimes overlooked aspects of participatory methods, including (1) the contribution of individual interviews within participatory and action research processes, which are generally based on group processes; (2) diverse creative, participatory strategies for data collection, analysis, and sharing of co-constructed knowledge(s) to study participants and co-researchers who have endured gross human rights violations; and, (3) the dialectics of voice and silence evident in FPAR and FPR processes of accompanying these women through dialogic research relationships. We conclude with implications for participatory activist scholarship that draws on qualitative methods to document the diverse meanings of experiences of violence, resistance, and healing.