Norma Romm
I would describe myself as a researcher interested in how research practice can be (more) responsibly directed towards creating transformative possibilities in social and ecological existence. Books that I have written on this include: The Methodologies of Positivism and Marxism (1991), Accountability in Social Research (2001), New Racism (2010), and Responsible Research Practice (2018).
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Papers by Norma Romm
Norma Romm provides excellent guidance through theory and practical examples for researchers who accept the challenge of working towards social, economic, and environmental justice for members of marginalized communities. She brings together the work of transformative and indigenous scholars to further understandings of the complex dynamics of contributing to positive social change through the use of innovative research strategies. The examples illustrate an emphasis on addressing social and ecological justice, along with the challenges that
researchers encounter in this type of research. This book is an excellent contribution to understanding better how researchers can be responsive to the wicked problems facing the world.
—Donna M. Mertens, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus
Gallaudet University
Norma Romm provides excellent guidance through theory and practical examples for researchers who accept the challenge of working towards social, economic, and environmental justice for members of marginalized communities. She brings together the work of transformative and indigenous scholars to further understandings of the complex dynamics of contributing to positive social change through the use of innovative research strategies. The examples illustrate an emphasis on addressing social and ecological justice, along with the challenges that
researchers encounter in this type of research. This book is an excellent contribution to understanding better how researchers can be responsive to the wicked problems
facing the world.
—Donna M. Mertens, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus
Gallaudet University
The research was aimed at investigating, and at the same time intervening in addressing, HIV/AIDS in relation to the informal sector in Zambia. The study was set in four geographical sites: Lusaka, Kafue, Mumbwa and Solwezi, and sampled informal workers from trades and services at those sites. The study was organised in relation to an ILO four-country study conducted in Uganda, Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa, which also examined HIV/AIDS in the informal economy in each of the four countries (McKay). From the studies that have been undertaken, it is clear that workers experience vulnerabilities that are specific to the sector, and that ways of intervening need to be tailored to this context. With this background in mind, the current Zambian ILO/UNDP study considered the way in which strategies in Zambia had thus far been directed at fighting the pandemic and whether sufficient attention has been directed at the informal sector. A four-stage methodology was used in the study (following the studies in the other four countries). The stages were:
• administration of a Knowledge, Attitude, Perception and Behaviour
questionnaire (KAPB) to a sample of 407 respondents in the informal sector from across four targeted sites, namely: Lusaka, Kafue, Mumbwa and Solwezi;
• rapid assessment workshops (with about 50 participants each) undertaken in the same areas;
• peer education, making use of a training brochure specifically developed for this purpose (by Prof McKay and Dr Morr);
• a National Workshop aimed at disseminating and discussing the research outcomes and recommendations while also specifically identifying agents/actors to carry them forward.
EDITORIAL
1 Journal of Awareness-Based Systems Change ‘In-between’: The Dwelling Place of Our Time
Oliver Koenig, Eva Pomeroy, Megan Seneque, and Otto Scharmer
INVITED ARTICLE
9 The ‘Tender Narrator’ Who Sees Beyond Time: A Framework for Trauma Integration and Healing
Thomas Hübl and Lori Shridhare
FEATURE ARTICLES
29 Mindfulness and Behavioural Insights: Reflections on the Meditative Brain, Systems Theory and Organisational Change
Rachel Lilley, Mark Whitehead, and Gerald Midgely
59 Radical Participatory Design: Awareness of Participation
Victor Udoewa
85 Our Fire Stories: Emergence Through the Circle Work-Process at the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Lab
Dr. John Davis and Dr. Rhonda Coopes
109 Action Research With and For Pack Mules: Transforming the Welfare of Working Equines in International Mountain Tourism
Glen Cousquer and Abdelaziz Haounti
BOOK REVIEW
141 Action Research as a Hopeful Response to Apocalypse: A Review of Bradbury, H. (2022). How to do Action Research for Transformations at a Time of Eco-social Crisis. Edward Elgar.
Norma R. A. Romm
IN THE MAKING
149 From Me to We: A Phenomenological Inquiry into Coherence
Stacey Guenther
DISCUSSION
173 Group Coherence: Its Shadow and Its Generative Potential
Jessica Bockler
IN DIALOGUE
183 The Navigation System, the Planetary Gardener, and the Prism: Metaphors for Bringing the Future into Being
Sohail Inayatullah, Emma D. Paine, and Otto Scharmer