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This article proposes a research paradigm located within the respectful relationship between participants and researcher(s) towards construction of positive holding, interactions and invitational environments which privilege social justice. I outline power as expressed at the heart of any form of human society through communication. For analysing power relations, issues of social justice and democratic citizenship become central. This article also demonstrates that social justice in research depends on interactions between the participants and researcher(s). I further argue for the need to engage with the methodological expectations of critical emancipatory research (CER), using the power of language and communication. I interrogate and trouble the power of text in the form of spoken or written words or any other means of communication. In addition, the article conceptualises communication as a medium of expression between the researcher(s) and participants; the researcher should not be regarded as aloof from the conditions of the participants. Therefore, the argument developed for social justice and democratic citizenship is that researcher(s) should be sensitive to the plight of all participants, recognising their voices or experiences. The article concludes by acknowledging the fact that human language is a product of human communication and that communication is important for knowledge production.
Keywords: Social justice, democratic citizenship, narratives, critical emancipatory research, power relations, discourse analysis
Introduction
Socio-political tensions and inequalities in South Africa created by colonialism crystallised in apartheid and, boosted by neo-colonial and neo-liberal modes of governments, seems to perpetuate social injustice. One cannot begin to talk of social integration and democratic citizenship for social justice, if the means or modes of constructing knowledge are not socially just and if the research methodology and interaction with participants is itself anti-democratic in the pursuit of democratic citizenship. This has become apparent on the basis of how the researcher conducts empirical research, and the interactions between researcher and participants do not reflect democratic values and social justice. However, this must not be considered an unchallengeable pedagogic fact; this article conceptualises how research can be emancipatory for democratic citizenship and social justice. Part of the research process is the promotion of active democratic citizenship. The focus of democratic citizenship is on whether and how people participate in the research process; the contributions they make; the respect they...