Peer-reviewed article
Rethinking Educational Participatory Action Research with Migrant and Racialized Youth in Border Contexts
Daniel Buraschi ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This article reflects on how youth-led participatory action research can work with migrant and racialized young people in the Canary Islands, a border region of southern Europe. It draws on the authors' 15 years of experience in participatory research, education and community action, and on practice-based insights from Emancipatory Communicative Action Laboratories. The authors describe five recurring challenges that can limit the transformative potential of this kind of research. They propose a critical anti-racist and dialogical framework built on reflexivity, recognition, shared knowledge production and safe participatory spaces.
Key points
- Youth-led participatory action research is increasingly used to promote youth agency and address social inequalities in education.
- With migrant and racialized youth in border regions, it faces specific ethical, political and methodological challenges.
- Five recurring challenges are named: functional interculturalism, academic extractivism, performative decoloniality, ethnocentric and adult-centred practices, and structural violence linked to border regimes.
- The proposed framework is critical, anti-racist and dialogical, grounded in reflexivity, recognition, shared knowledge production and safe participatory spaces.
- Methodological strategies are highlighted that strengthen young people's capacity to define their own experiences and analyse structural inequalities.
Limitations
The abstract describes a situated, practice-based reflection from one setting (the Canary Islands) and reports no measured outcomes, comparison group or sample details. It cannot tell us whether the proposed framework improves results for young people.
Abstract
Abstract Youth-led participatory action research (YPAR) has gained increasing relevance as an approach for promoting youth agency and addressing social inequalities in educational contexts. However, when implemented with migrant and racialized youth in border regions, participatory research faces specific ethical, political, and methodological challenges that may limit its transformative potential. This article offers a situated reflection on the possibilities and constraints of educational participatory action research developed with migrant and racialized young people in the Canary Islands, one of the main border territories of southern Europe. Drawing on 15 years of experience in participatory research, education, and community action, as well as practice-based insights from Emancipatory Communicative Action Laboratories involving migrant and racialized youth, the paper reflects on recurring tensions that arise in these processes. Five recurring challenges are discussed: functional interculturalism, academic extractivism, performative decoloniality, ethnocentric and adult-centred practices, and the effects of structural violence associated with border regimes. In response, the article proposes a critical anti-racist and dialogical framework grounded in reflexivity, recognition, shared knowledge production, and the creation of safe participatory spaces. Particular attention is given to methodological strategies that strengthen young people’s capacity to define their own experiences, analyse structural inequalities, and participate meaningfully in social transformation processes. The article contributes to ongoing debates on participatory methodologies by highlighting the need to rethink research practices from the perspectives of migration, racialization and border dynamics.