Expressive Creative Encounters and Participatory Action Research: reflections from a neighborhood experience in the city of Villa Nueva (Córdoba, Argentina)

This article studies analizes some possible links between the characteristics of Participatory Action Research (par) and the application of a research and transfer methodologycalled Expressive Creative Encounter (ece) in working-class sectors. The overall aim of this research is to use this methodology to identify social issues through the sensitivitiesof the inhabitants of the Florida neighborhood of the city of Salto Villa Nueva (Provincia de Córdoba, Argentina). The starting point for this is Scribano’s (2013) statement thatthe application of a knowledge methodology based on the collective’s expressiveness and creativity maximizes the reutilization and appropriation of the information obtained in the research process for those who participate in it, as proposed by PAR. The article describes the use ece within the framework of PAR research, identifying the dialog between both. This can orient the search for solutions by inhabitants in a participatory co-construction process of knowledge and can generate action for transformation of those aspects of realitythat concern the involved population. In this sense, it presents some connections and differences between ece and par. The article begins with a presentation of the purposes andthe methodology used in the research and a description of the relationships between the methodological approach and the sociology of bodies/emotions to inquire into processesof social structuring. It then presents the distinctive notes of par within the framework of its development in Latin America. Next, the article describes the experience of applyingan ece with inhabitants of a neighborhood in the city of Villa Nueva. Finally, it presents some points for the establishment of a dialogue between ece and par on the basis of the continuative use of methodologies contributing to social emancipation in South America.