Critical Futures
Community-Engaged Research in a Time of Crisis and Social Transformation
Will be published approx. on 16. December 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
384 pages
978-1-4875-5020-2 (ISBN)
Description
Critical Futures explores the evolving landscape of community-engaged research (CER) in a time of unprecedented social, political, and environmental crises. This collection brings together leading scholars, community researchers, and activists to examine the intersection of CER with social justice, decolonization, and transformation.
The book explores the reimagining of CER and decolonizing research practices and offers case studies from the field. Through essays and contributions from a diverse group of scholars, the book highlights the need for ethical, equitable collaboration that transcends traditional academic hierarchies. It addresses topics including the role of solidarity in research, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on CER, Indigenous and Two-Spirit community research, and the critical importance of addressing power dynamics in university-community partnerships.
With a focus on justice and the creation of new collective possibilities, Critical Futures provides both theoretical frameworks and practical examples that inspire a rethinking of how community research can contribute to a more just and sustainable future. This collection is essential reading for anyone interested in the future of research that is rooted in social change and community engagement.
The book explores the reimagining of CER and decolonizing research practices and offers case studies from the field. Through essays and contributions from a diverse group of scholars, the book highlights the need for ethical, equitable collaboration that transcends traditional academic hierarchies. It addresses topics including the role of solidarity in research, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on CER, Indigenous and Two-Spirit community research, and the critical importance of addressing power dynamics in university-community partnerships.
With a focus on justice and the creation of new collective possibilities, Critical Futures provides both theoretical frameworks and practical examples that inspire a rethinking of how community research can contribute to a more just and sustainable future. This collection is essential reading for anyone interested in the future of research that is rooted in social change and community engagement.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Toronto
Canada
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
13 illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 227 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
612 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4875-5020-2 (9781487550202)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Stuart R. Poyntz is a professor and associate director of the School of Communication and a director of the Community-Engaged Research Centre Initiative at Simon Fraser University.
Kari Grain is a lecturer in the Faculty of Education and coordinator of the master of education program in Adult Learning and Global Change (ALGC) at the University of British Columbia; she also serves as a research associate for the Community-Engaged Research Initiative at Simon Fraser University.
Am Johal is the director of the Vancity Office of Community Engagement and co-director of the Community-Engaged Research Initiative at Simon Fraser University.
Kari Grain is a lecturer in the Faculty of Education and coordinator of the master of education program in Adult Learning and Global Change (ALGC) at the University of British Columbia; she also serves as a research associate for the Community-Engaged Research Initiative at Simon Fraser University.
Am Johal is the director of the Vancity Office of Community Engagement and co-director of the Community-Engaged Research Initiative at Simon Fraser University.
Content
Foreword
Timothy K. Eatman
Introduction: Crisis and Social Transformation in Community-Engaged Research
Stuart R. Poyntz, Am Johal, and Kari Grain
Part 1: Transformations, Complexities, and Critical Conversations
Introduction: Reimagining Community-Engaged Research
1. Pushing Against, Reaching Towards: Commitments, Contingencies, and Contestations in Community-Engaged Research and Practice
Ruben Gaztambide-Fernandez and Sarah Switzer
2. Community-Engaged Research and the "Right to be Rural"
Sean Markey, S. Ashleigh Weeden, Ryan Gibson, Greg Halseth, and Laura Ryser
3. Money, Power, and Reciprocity: Financial Transactions and Critical Reciprocity in Community-Engaged Research
Vanessa Fong, Kari Grain, Stuart R. Poyntz, and Amanda Wager
4. How Community-Engaged Research and Learning Became "Work-Integrated Learning" (WIL): The Shifting Discourses of Canadian Experiential Learning
David Peacock
5. Relational Soil Care: A Community-Engaged Response to Global Soil Crisis
Katherine Lawless, David Janzen, and Ed Gregorich
6. The Ethics of Care in a Pandemic: Weaving Together Anti-Racist Practice and Disability Justice in our Community-Engaged Work
Ciann Wilson and Natalie Kivell
7. Your $20 Starbucks Gift Card Isn't Helping: A Conversation about Community-Based Research as a Cooperative Undertaking
Adam Gaudry and Matt Hern
Part 2: Decolonization and Indigenization
Introduction: Decolonization and Decolonizing Practices in CER
8. Community-Engaged Research for Self-Determination: Decolonial Urban Strategies
Lyanna Patrick
9. Relational Accountability and Reconcilia(c)tion in Two-Spirit Research and Education
Harlan Pruden and Travis Salway
10. The Elephant in the Room: Tokenism, Currency, and Dispossession in Community-Engaged Research
Jessica Hallenbeck and Rosemary Georgeson
11. "The Circle": Circular and Relational Research in Response to Complexity and Crisis
Sharon Karsten
12. Decolonizing Community-Based Research: A Four Quadrants Approach to Understanding the Impacts of COVID-19 on Elders and Seniors
Crystal Tremblay, Tanya Clarmont, Lisa Mercure, Emily Dzyngel, and Katie Dzyngel
Part 3: Case Studies and Field Perspectives
Introduction: Case Studies from the Field
13. Changing the System: Steps Towards Empowering Community Governance of Research Ethics in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver
Scott D. Neufeld, Jules Chapman, Nicholas D. Leech (Crier), Samona Marsh, and Jim McLeod
14. Art at Work and Workers as Artists: Project Thinking, Craft, and Creativity in Community-Engaged Research
Will Garrett-Petts and Evelyn Asiedu
15. Exploring Transformative Reciprocity in Community-Engaged Learning
Rhianna Nagel, Alexandra Haupt, Kathy Sanford, Lilaine Galway, and Lisa Mort-Putland
16. Learning in Public: Towards Critically Hopeful Practices in a CER Support Unit
Elizabeth Jackson
17. Seizing the Moment: Community-Campus Conversations to Support Communities Through and Beyond the Pandemic
Lynn Gidluck, Amber J. Fletcher, and Magda Goemans
18. Using Dialogic Methods and Tools to Identify Accessible Collaboration Pathways between Communities and Campuses: A Case Study with Ashoka Fellows and Changemaker Campuses
Charmaine Lyn, Nicole Norris, and Jennifer DeCoste
Conclusion: The Future of Community-Engaged Research
Stuart R. Poyntz, Kari Grain, and Am Johal
Contributors
Index
Timothy K. Eatman
Introduction: Crisis and Social Transformation in Community-Engaged Research
Stuart R. Poyntz, Am Johal, and Kari Grain
Part 1: Transformations, Complexities, and Critical Conversations
Introduction: Reimagining Community-Engaged Research
1. Pushing Against, Reaching Towards: Commitments, Contingencies, and Contestations in Community-Engaged Research and Practice
Ruben Gaztambide-Fernandez and Sarah Switzer
2. Community-Engaged Research and the "Right to be Rural"
Sean Markey, S. Ashleigh Weeden, Ryan Gibson, Greg Halseth, and Laura Ryser
3. Money, Power, and Reciprocity: Financial Transactions and Critical Reciprocity in Community-Engaged Research
Vanessa Fong, Kari Grain, Stuart R. Poyntz, and Amanda Wager
4. How Community-Engaged Research and Learning Became "Work-Integrated Learning" (WIL): The Shifting Discourses of Canadian Experiential Learning
David Peacock
5. Relational Soil Care: A Community-Engaged Response to Global Soil Crisis
Katherine Lawless, David Janzen, and Ed Gregorich
6. The Ethics of Care in a Pandemic: Weaving Together Anti-Racist Practice and Disability Justice in our Community-Engaged Work
Ciann Wilson and Natalie Kivell
7. Your $20 Starbucks Gift Card Isn't Helping: A Conversation about Community-Based Research as a Cooperative Undertaking
Adam Gaudry and Matt Hern
Part 2: Decolonization and Indigenization
Introduction: Decolonization and Decolonizing Practices in CER
8. Community-Engaged Research for Self-Determination: Decolonial Urban Strategies
Lyanna Patrick
9. Relational Accountability and Reconcilia(c)tion in Two-Spirit Research and Education
Harlan Pruden and Travis Salway
10. The Elephant in the Room: Tokenism, Currency, and Dispossession in Community-Engaged Research
Jessica Hallenbeck and Rosemary Georgeson
11. "The Circle": Circular and Relational Research in Response to Complexity and Crisis
Sharon Karsten
12. Decolonizing Community-Based Research: A Four Quadrants Approach to Understanding the Impacts of COVID-19 on Elders and Seniors
Crystal Tremblay, Tanya Clarmont, Lisa Mercure, Emily Dzyngel, and Katie Dzyngel
Part 3: Case Studies and Field Perspectives
Introduction: Case Studies from the Field
13. Changing the System: Steps Towards Empowering Community Governance of Research Ethics in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver
Scott D. Neufeld, Jules Chapman, Nicholas D. Leech (Crier), Samona Marsh, and Jim McLeod
14. Art at Work and Workers as Artists: Project Thinking, Craft, and Creativity in Community-Engaged Research
Will Garrett-Petts and Evelyn Asiedu
15. Exploring Transformative Reciprocity in Community-Engaged Learning
Rhianna Nagel, Alexandra Haupt, Kathy Sanford, Lilaine Galway, and Lisa Mort-Putland
16. Learning in Public: Towards Critically Hopeful Practices in a CER Support Unit
Elizabeth Jackson
17. Seizing the Moment: Community-Campus Conversations to Support Communities Through and Beyond the Pandemic
Lynn Gidluck, Amber J. Fletcher, and Magda Goemans
18. Using Dialogic Methods and Tools to Identify Accessible Collaboration Pathways between Communities and Campuses: A Case Study with Ashoka Fellows and Changemaker Campuses
Charmaine Lyn, Nicole Norris, and Jennifer DeCoste
Conclusion: The Future of Community-Engaged Research
Stuart R. Poyntz, Kari Grain, and Am Johal
Contributors
Index