All In: Community Engaged Scholarship for Social Change
Chapter 5: Introduction and Case Example Links
Embodying Equity Through Engaged Research: A View from within Philanthropic Initiatives for Social Change
Angela K. Frusciante
Meaning making is the heart of human creative agency; Shared meaning making is the soul of change efforts that move toward greater equity; Knowledge work embraces both.
Knowledge work, as the embodied practice of engaged scholars, is becoming an identifiable aspect of social change strategies and philanthropically funded change initiatives. Although learning, capacity building, and evaluation have already taken hold within the philanthropic sector, “knowledge work,” defined in the context of equity intentions, complex systems, and desires for deeper and broader inclusion of lived experience, is still emerging as an essential function. However, knowledge work is now poised to become a subfield within philanthropy. Embracing the ideas and practices of engaged research as the core of knowledge work is crucial in social change initiatives because these efforts require flexibility and collaboration in aligning methodologies with the values and rhythms of social change processes. In this chapter, I assert that the essence of knowledge work, regardless of methodology or methods, is shared meaning making. I discuss knowledge work from inside philanthropically funded efforts toward social change. I enter in through a belief that these initiatives, even with their inherent power differentials, have the possibility to provide intentional space for agency and social creativity.
In the first part, I outline the conceptual areas that ground knowledge work in the sector: social change, philanthropic strategy, knowledge construction, and frameworks for meaning making. In the second part of the chapter, I describe methodological decisions made in three case examples that serve to highlight engaged research processes and to surface key insights about how knowledge work is taking hold in and through philanthropy.
I link parts one and two by locating myself through my lived experience and social change commitments and share a process I call “knowledge opportunity scanning” that guides my engaged research. Throughout, I emphasize how knowledge construction is equity work and how building this field from our practice is the grounding necessary to be true to the co-creative values of equitable social change.
Case Examples
Case Example #1: BEING Together in Knowledge Work
Case Example #2: Embracing Wholeness in Knowledge Work
Case Example #3: Claiming Agency in Knowledge Work
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