The Impact of Co-production: From Community Engagement to Social Justice

Bringing together academics, artists, practitioners and ‘community activists’, this book explores the possibilities for, and tensions of, social justice work under the contemporary drive for community-orientated ‘impact’ in the academy. Threading a line between celebratory accounts of institutionalised community engagement, self-professed ‘radical’ scholarship for social change and critical accounts of the governmentalisation of community, the book makes an original contribution to all three fields of scholarship. Showcasing experimental research and co-production practices taking place in the UK, Australia, Sweden and Canada and within universities, independent research organisations and internationally prestigious museums and galleries, the book considers what research impact could look like for a wide range of audiences and how universities could engage with different publics in ways that would be relevant and useful, but may not necessarily be easily measurable. Asking hard questions of the current impact agenda, the book offers an insight into emerging routes towards co-production for social justice.

Table of Contents:
Introduction, Aksel Ersoy Chapter 1. Enabling Conditions for Communities and Universities to Work Together: a Journey of University Public Engagement, Marina Chang and Gemma Moore Chapter 2. Understanding Impact and Its Enabling Conditions: Learning From People Engaged in Collaborative Research, Alex Haynes Chapter 3. Emphasising Mutual Benefit: Rethinking the Impact Agenda through the Lens of Share Academy, Judy Willcocks Chapter 4. From Poverty to Life Chances: Framing Co-produced Research in the Productive Margins Programme, Sue Cohen, Allan Herbert, Nathan Evans and Tove Samzelius Chapter 5. Methodologically Sound? Participatory Research at a Community Radio Station, Catherine Wilkinson Chapter 6. The Regulatory Aesthetics of Co-production, Penny Evans and Angela Piccini Chapter 7. Participatory Mapping and Engagement with Urban Water Communities, Özlem Edizel and Graeme Evans Chapter 8. Hacking into the Science Museum: Young Trans People Disrupt the Power Balance of Gender ‘Norms’ in the Museums ‘Who Am I?’ Gallery, Kayte McSweeney and Jay Stewart Chapter 9. Mapping In, On, Towards Aboriginal Space: Trading Routes and an Ethics of Artistic Inquiry, Glen Lowry and Mimi Gellman Chapter 10. Adapting to the Future: Vulnerable Bodies, Resilient Practices, Deirdre Heddon and Sue Porter Conclusion: Reflections on Contemporary Debates in Coproduction Studies, Aksel Ersoy