Abstract
In this chapter, we share a vision of PAR (participatory action research) that provides a framework for not only collectively constructing knowledge but also for determining what counts as knowledge for social justice, ways to reconcile competing theoretical positions and approaches to teaching what we know. This framework, PAR EntreMundos, translates to PAR in-between worlds, one that exists in liminal spaces, the border region where incongruous ideas meet to generate uncertainty yet multiple possibilities of purpose. We organize this chapter according to two anchors, praxes and principles. We integrate four foundational praxes (southern tradition, critical race theory, feminist theory, and indigenous wisdom), guided by a set of principles. Each anchor will be illustrated using a case example. For instance, the anchor in praxes explores subject/object reckoning with intersectionality by focusing on a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) project within an Ethnic Studies program in Arizona. The second anchor in principles explores enactment of spirit within/despite western frames. The case example looks at a Grow Your Own (GRO) teacher education program located at Sacramento State University in California. The chapter concludes with a discussion of philosophical and practical “choques,” or collisions that happen when working between worlds.