The emerging post-modern paradigms in social research are provoking changes in the way knowledge is understood and produced in research. The focus shifts from the discovery of a pre-existing truth or singular reality to the process of constructing knowledge in diverse contexts. Postmodern strategies recognize the dynamic and constructed nature of reality while encouraging attention to the interpersonal relationships that ultimately shape and define our experience. In this dialogical approach orientation, openness, multiplicity, appreciation and engagement are invited in research. As a consequence, a democratic view on what is possible in research is emerging and connecting more with daily practice in organizations and society. Critical analysis, reflexive deliberation, co-operative inquiry, performative, and action research – among others – stem from this relational epistemology.
The following topics are the core of the symposium:
- What are relationally engaged forms of research?
- What are the epistemological, methodological and ethical implications of a relational research approach?
- To what extent are the boundaries between the scientific inquiry and the everyday search for understanding of lived experience blurring?
- What is a role of power in relational research?
Venue: Academic Conference Centre, Husova 4a, Prague, Czech Republic
Keynote speakers: Prof. Kenneth Gergen, Sheila McNamee
Workshops and roundtables: Jacub Storch,Jakob Norlem, Ottar Ness, Celiane Camargo-Borges, Lenka Formánková and others.