Feminist Participatory Action Research
Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) fuses the participatory action research tradition — in which communities investigate their own conditions through cycles of action and reflection — with feminist commitments to analyzing gender power, foregrounding marginalized women's knowledge, practicing reflexivity, and producing concrete social change. Pioneered by Patricia Maguire in 1987 and later systematized by Colleen Reid and Wendy Frisby, it dissolves the usual divide between researcher and researched, positioning community members as co-researchers who shape the questions, the process, and the outcomes.
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Sources
- Reid, C., & Frisby, W. (2008). Continuing the journey: Articulating dimensions of feminist participatory action research (FPAR). In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Action Research (2nd ed., pp. 93–105). SAGE, London. ISBN: 9781412920308
- Maguire, P. (1987). Doing Participatory Research: A Feminist Approach. Center for International Education, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. ISBN: 9780932288738
How to cite this page
ScholarGate. (2026, June 22). Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR). ScholarGate. https://scholargate.app/en/gender-studies/feminist-participatory-action-research
Which method?
Set this method beside its closest kin and read them side by side — the library lays the books on the table; the choice is yours.
- Feminist Standpoint AnalysisGender Studies↔ compare
- Grounded TheoryQualitative Research↔ compare
- Intersectionality AnalysisGender Studies↔ compare
- Participatory Action ResearchQualitative↔ compare