This essay argues the postmodern challenge in social practice through the researches of Travers, Newman and Holzman, and Smith. Three of them aim to change society positively and criticized modernity, western science and academics which produce only knowledge. However, they have differing discussions within research and activism. Newman and Holzman are totally against epistemology and suggest learning the way child does and to do activity or performance to change society. In their opinion, social activism is not research. In Smith’s opinion, research process works as activism like education or healing. The author stand by Smith as her goal of research is social justice and democracy. She hopes to contribute to the mentally disabled women at the center by her research.
It is a very interesting and exciting idea that research process has a possibility to change society. In this paper, only social research is discussed, but I guess design process and building process could work as activism as research. The field of architecture could be more efficient and useful to not only to propose architecture as a result but also to use architectural process as tool to improve urban poor (our DS8 project). I think I could learn from Smith’s research project for indigenous people. For example, she believes social researchers have to consider the impact of research on community and challenge to involve community. I think architectural project also should address the issues of social justice. I would like to read her essays more and to find a way for architecture as performance for social change.
Travers, Ann. “Postmodern Research, Postmodern Practice: Studying the Barriers to Cyberliteracy Among Mentally Disabled Women”. Sociological Practice: A Journal of Clinical and Applied Sociology, vol.4 no.4 (2002): PP279-291.
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