Exploring alternative research epistemologies for adult education: Participatory research, feminist research and feminist participatory research

Although there has been a growing interest in participatory research and feminist research as streams of social science inquiry, they remain largely peripheral to North American adult education research paradigms. This paper is based on the premise that alternative epistemologies can enhance research practices and further the democratizing aims of adult education. The authors review the emergence of participatory, feminist, and the developing feminist participatory approaches with emphasis on international dimensions of research interests. Possible ways in which these emancipatory approaches can reconceptualize and impact adult education discourse and research frameworks are suggested.