How does the collaboration work? An Analysis of Power in the Disabled in Politics Cooperative Project and its Implication for Action Research

The article addresses the problem of power relations in cooperative and action research projects. The Disabled in Politics project, a cooperative research project, was conducted in Switzerland by three institutions: 1) the Tatkraft Association, an association of disabled people; 2) the Centre for Social Law at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW); and 3) the Chair of Special Education: Society, Participation, and Disability at the University of Zurich. However, the different resources of the cooperation partners led to practical problems with power. Therefore, we analyze the collaboration within the project through Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of capital and reveal power relations and shifts based on critical project decisions. This article examines the influence of the partners’ institutional backgrounds on the collaboration and how their positions changed throughout the project. Finally, Bourdieu’s template is proposed to better understand power relations in action research projects.