Social geography: participatory research

This second of three reviews of action-orientated research in social geography focuses on one area of this work which is thriving. Moving, like many good ideas, from the field conventionally viewed as ‘development’ to wider application, participatory research (PR) has seen rapid expansion in recent years (see Breitbart, 2003; Kesby et al., 2004; Pratt, 2000). It has particular attractions for social geographers, who are beginning to contribute to wider debates and critiques around its philosophies, theories and practices. They face, too, all of the problems involved in getting academic geography ‘onto the streets’ (Fuller and Kitchin, 2004).