The co-conspiring methodology: An invitational approach to action research

Abstract

Co-conspiring is an approach to action research aimed at decolonizing the research process. This research method is inspired by an ongoing, collaborative research relationship with East Central Ministries, a faith-based non-profit organization based in Albuquerque, New Mexico’s international district. Guided by East Central Ministries’s practices of intention setting/leaving space for what emerges, focusing on feelings, being community minded, and building the conspiring community, the co-conspiring approach to research is emergent and will manifest differently in any given research context. Grounded in the communication theory of invitational rhetoric, co-conspiring emphasizes relationships based in equality and offers possibilities for transformation through a willingness to be changed by the research experience.