Situational Analysis of Power in Participatory Action Research: Mapping Systemic Frameworks, Discourses, and Principles for Critical Feminist Qualitative Inquiry.

This article focuses on the application of situational analysis, a critical qualitative methodology developed by sociologist Adele E. Clarke, to examine power differentials within Participatory Action Research (PAR) and Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) collaborations among social work faculty and community stakeholders. Drawing from a study involving U.S.-based social work scholars and community partners, the article illustrates how situational analysis—through various mapping techniques—can reveal the complex interplay of human and nonhuman elements, structural barriers, and discourses that shape participatory knowledge production under neoliberal, colonial, and capitalist influences. It highlights tensions between academic institutional demands (e.g., tenure, funding, publication pressures) and community-based experiential knowledge, emphasizing critical feminist principles such as reflexivity, intersectionality, and epistemic justice. The article concludes that situational analysis offers valuable tools for critical feminist social work scholarship and praxis to interrogate and reimagine oppressive knowledge production processes, while acknowledging methodological challenges and the need for further research on dynamic power relations in participatory inquiry.