In 2022, approximately 86% of research articles published worldwide originated from high-income and upper-middle-income countries. Similarly, most international development research is funded by bilateral and multilateral agencies based in the West, reinforcing existing power dynamics in knowledge production.
There has long been a power imbalance between the Global North and Majority World, with the former controlling research funding, resources, narratives, and discourse. These asymmetries limit the research potential of the Global South and allow the Global North to perpetuate false or reductive narratives about the South and its people.
Decolonizing Research
To challenge this imbalance, the concept of “decolonizing research” has gained traction. Decolonial research prioritizes the needs, beliefs, cultures, and contexts of local communities, positioning them as equal partners rather than passive subjects—an approach that combats exploitation.
While there is no singular framework defining decolonial research, several core themes emerge in practice, such as adopting a participatory and engaged approach. This is where Participatory Action Research (PAR) enters the equation.
What is PAR?
PAR is a methodology that empowers local communities by actively involving them in the research process. Rather than being subjects of study, community members are trained in research skills and become co-researchers. This inclusive approach ensures that voices historically excluded from research are centered in the narrative.
At INTEGRATED, we conducted a PAR study across Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Tunisia to amplify the voices of women experiencing economic gender-based violence (GBV). Each country team collaborated with a group of co-researchers who were trained in research methodologies and then conducted data collection within their own communities. In total, we worked with 18 local co-researchers across the 4 countries.
As a member of the research team, I participated in an introductory workshop on PAR with country researchers. We shared our personal experiences with economic GBV and reflected on how these shaped our roles in the project. A key focus of our training was shifting our perception of participants from “subjects” to “collaborators.”
Following this, we led multiple workshops to train co-researchers on how to document women’s stories of economic GBV with accuracy and sensitivity. They were also given the opportunity to share their own experiences as part of the research process.
Through these workshops, we formed connections, sharing our personal and professional experiences. In our final session, we played a game called “String Web.” One person started with a ball of string, threw it to another participant, and shared something they had learned from them. The process continued until a web of string stretched across the room—a representation of our collaboration, shared learning, and storytelling.
Shifting the Narrative
By utilizing the PAR methodology, our study presented Arab women’s experiences with economic GBV through a decolonial lens, countering the dominant Western narrative that attributes GBV in Arab and Muslim communities to “backward” cultural or religious beliefs. This stereotype—often framed as the “savage-victim-savior” complex—portrays Arab and Muslim women as victims of their own culture who need saving by the West. Our research challenged this narrative by centering local voices and experiences. It allowed for women to tell their stories of resilience and transformation, a narrative that is rarely captured by the Global North, despite being critical to addressing GBV and finding a way forward.
In the last decade, research publication output from lower-income countries has nearly doubled. Yet, the West continues to dominate funding and knowledge production. Now is the time for researchers in the Majority World to actively embrace decolonial practices and reimagine research production in a way that amplifies historically-silenced voices—ensuring that the “researched” becomes the “researcher.” Voice and agency are indeed heard and activated within the institutions and structures that shape knowledge production.
Check out Hidden Voices: Arabic Women’s Stories of Economic Survival.