Mind the gap: Thinking through a participatory action research project in Eastern Uganda

This article originates from a sense of dissatisfaction with the outcomes of a participatory action research project we undertook in Eastern Uganda, concerned with land and water access. We are proud of the research: its design, the process we engaged in, our conduct, the relationships we formed, and our endeavour to engender meaningful change. And yet we are left wondering what the project actually achieved. To better understand this dissatisfaction, we review the literature that constitutes the context for the project – participatory action research, scholar activism, and decolonising methodologies. We bring this literature into conversation with our own project in order to shed light on the gap between aspirations and outcomes. Our hope is that this critical exploration, and the advice we offer, contributes to a better understanding of the possibilities and limitations of both participatory research and of Westernised research in the Global South.