Over de dubbelrol van de participerende beleidsonderzoeker: kansen, dilemma’s (en oplossingen) in samenwerking met de praktijk

About the dual role of the participating policy researcher: Opportunities, dilemmas (and solutions) in collaboration with practice

Societal and academic calls to leave the ‘ivory university tower’ increasingly bring social researchers in cooperation with practice partners. Methods such as action research are on the rise. Researchers in these partnerships between theory and practice take on dynamic roles in relation to the field of research. By taking a seat at the table where policies are made or put in practice, researchers can impact the policy or social world they are simultaneously researching. In so doing, the researcher becomes a describer from within a social world, whilst actively contributing to shaping meanings of that social world. This can potentially harm the vital independence of a social researcher, but also allows the researcher to impact practice whilst remaining theory-based. In this article, I elaborate on a fieldwork experience related to a participatory budgeting process in a diverse urban neighbourhood, where I navigated between ‘observer’ and ‘proactive partner’.