3. Emergent themes and practice guidelines

3.8. Finding a ‘third space’ and acknowledging contradictions

It was evident during the IP discussions that engaging in participatory approaches is complex and non-linear, and there is a need to avoid simplistic, instrumental solutions to complex sets of relationships. To achieve positive effects, participation in teaching, research and practice should avoid safe or ‘correct’ positions that avoid controversies. Given that the diversity of positions and the recognition that power inequalities are inevitable, there is a need to find a common, ‘third space’ in which these contrasting aspects can be acknowledged and negotiated and thereby lifted to a meta-level of understanding that does not deny the (relative) relevance to both sides, but suspends institutional dynamics that prevent empowerment. There are several principles and strategies that can be used to deliver more authentic, engaging participatory activities, where a meta-level understanding can be reached, as follows:

  • It is critical that power differentials, which can be multiple and shifting, are recognised from the start, and that these may be necessary but also obstructing.
  • Predominant medical or other “diagnostic” discourses based on “scientific expertise” can have the effect of ‘boxing people in categories’ or can be liberating from anxieties as a scientifically proved perspective (for example the simplistic assumption that there can be an automatic cure).
  • Informal ‘third spaces’ can overcome blockages, such as having meals together, going for a shared car ride, interrupting recurring impediments and objections with ‘fantasy games’ introducing ‘surprises’.
  • The space between ‘expert systems’ and ‘experts by experience’ needs to be explored to enable service users distinguish between choices whose range is determined for them by given power structures and choices that would challenge those ‘given realities’ (in terms of ‘there is no alternative’). This is particularly relevant in the context of neoliberal ideologies that proclaim ‘user choice’ without equalising the conditions under which choices can be made and thereby can become a device of victim blaming.

Theme 8) Case Study Example: Mediating power dynamics in the professional relationship

In Porto Importa-se, a project that aims to combat the social isolation of older people in social housing estates, involves a team of researchers who mediate the relationship between older people and both Domus Social, the public entity promoting the study, and the social support services. This enabled their voices to be heard in terms of their needs and in designing an intervention proposal. This was achieved using a team process where a meeting took place between the Domus staff researchers and service users. A discussion took place about types of intervention that would encourage social isolation and challenging social structures. This team is therefore, in a first moment, an investigator of the social problem identified and then a mediator for the articulated intervention with older people. It is in this context that the project is understood as a third space where the different proposals for overcoming the problem are negotiated.