On Solidarity and Methodological Innocence in Youth Participatory Action Research

The methodological overrepresentation of moral dilemmas in recent YPAR discourse has culminated in a critical stalemate – a methodological paralysis brought on by an overly cautious fixation on personal moral hazards. As critical YPAR scholars, we honor these necessary interventions, but are also concerned about how this trend may discourage participation and stagnate innovations in YPAR praxis. Furthermore, YPAR has also been part of a broader process of modulization within universities that attempt to produce sterilized modules that discount the challenges of relationships and accountability. Thus, we explore how solidarity as a concept and a practice might address this double bind, to push beyond these critical stalemates. We assert that solidarity is a necessary launching point for YPAR, acknowledging methodological tensions as part of a collective struggle with youth collaborators, as well as navigating the uneasy dichotomy between an ethic of care and paternalistic impulses often present in youth-adult partnerships.