The Palgrave International Handbook of Action Research offers a vivid portrait of both theoretical perspectives and practical action research activity and related benefits around the globe, while attending to the cultural, political, social, historical and ecological contexts that localize, shape and characterize action research. Consisting of teachers, youth workers, counselors, nurses, community developers, artists, ecologists, farmers, settlement-dwellers, students, professors and intellectual-activists on every continent and at every edge of the globe, the movement sustained and inspired by this community was born of the efforts of intellectual-activists in the mid-twentieth century specifically: Orlando Fals Borda, Paulo Freire, Myles Horton, Kurt Lewin. Cross-national issues of networking, as well as the challenges, tensions, and issues associated with the transformative power of action research are explored from multiple perspectives providing unique contributions to our understanding of what it means to do action research and to be an action researcher. This handbook sets a global action research agenda and map for readers to consider as they embark on new projects. 

Table of contents
Part I: Background and ContextsIntroduction to Part I; Joseph M. Shosh
1. Critical Participatory Action Research; Robin McTaggart, Rhonda Nixon and Stephen Kemmis
2. Informal Action Research: The Nature and Contribution of Everyday Classroom Inquiry; Clive Beck
3. Emancipatory Action Research as a Critical Living Praxis: From Dominant Narrative to Counternarratives; Margaret Ledwith
4. Knowledge Democracy and Action Research: Pathways for the Twenty-First Century; Lonnie L. Rowell and Eunsook Hong
5. Defining Action Research: On Dialogic Spaces for Constructing Shared Meanings; Lonnie L. Rowell, Margaret Riel, and Elena Y. Polush,
Part II: A World of Action ResearchIntroduction to Part II; Catherine D. Bruce and Lonnie L. Rowell
6. Action Research in the Canadian Context; Kurt W. Clausen
7. An Emergent History of Educational Action Research in the English Speaking World; Allan Feldman
8. Participation and the Work of the Imagination: A Colombian Retrospective; Joanne Rappaport
9. Action Research and Participatory Research in Brazil; Michel Thiollent and Maria Madalena Colette
10. Community Action Research in Ireland: Improving Educational Outcomes in the Dublin Docklands; Josephine Bleach
11. Creating a Pedagogy of Vocational Training for Young People not in Education, Employment or Training; Gil Mason and Joan Walton
12. The Experience of Lesson Study in the UK; Phil Wood, Alison Fox, Julie Norton, & Maarten Tas
13. A Snapshot of Action Research in and by Higher Education in Southern Africa;Lesley Wood, Catherine Dean, Pieter du Toit, Omar Esau, Angela James, Paul Rampaola Mokhele, & Ansurie Pillay
14. Community Mapping for Empowerment: Collectivising Adults for Action in the Slums of India; Manoj Rai
15. Learning About Action Research In and From the Middle East; Jean McNiff
16. Transformative Education for Gross National Happiness: A Teacher Action Research Project in Bhutan; Rosalind Cooper and Timothy Bedford
17. Action Research in the Sri Lankan Education System: A Historical Perspective;Godwin Kodituwakku
18. The Status of Action Research in the People's Republic of China: A Review of Recent Literature; Lin Yuan
19. Using Action Research for Educational Reform in the Nation of Mongolia: A Catalyst for Democratic Transformation; Candace Kaye, Jadambaa Badrakh, Narantsetseg Dorjgotov, Batdelger Jamsrandorj, Baigalmaa Chultum, & Altangoo Orchirbat
20. Educational Action Research in South Korea: Finding New Meanings in Practitioner-Based Research; Mina Kim and So Jung Kim
21. Transforming Educational Practice through Action Research: Three Australian Examples; Janette Bobis and Robyn Ewing
Part III: Action Research Networks in Local and Global ContextsIntroduction to Part III; Margaret Riel
22. Networking at the Grassroots: Action Research Partnerships in Education; Suzy Thomas
23. Practice and Theory in Action Research: Living Theories as Frameworks for Action; Jack Whitehead
24. Maintaining a Network of Critical Connections over Time and Space: The Case of CARN, the Collaborative Action Research Network; Ruth Balogh, Mary McAteer, & Una Hanley
25. Action Learning and Action Research Association (ALARA): History, Culture and Sustainability; Ortrun Zuber-Skerritt and Ron Passfield
26. Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA); Rajesh Tandon
27. The Nordic Network of Action Research (NNAR): Action Research within the Tradition of Nordic Countries; Karin Roennerman and Petri Salo
28. Pedagogy Education Praxis Network (P.E.P): International Research Program; Stephen Kemmis, Karin Roennerman, and Christine Edwards-Groves
29. The Action Research Network of the Americas (ARNA): Constructing a New Network of North-South Convergence; Joseph M. Shosh, Lonnie L. Rowell, Margaret M. Riel, & Catherine D. Bruce
Part IV: Challenges, Tensions, and Issues in the Expanding Conceptions of Action ResearchIntroduction to Part IV; Joseph M. Shosh
30. Ethical, Epistemic, and Political Issues in Equity-Oriented Collaborative Community-Based Research; Samara S. Foster and Ronald David Glass
31. Effecting a High School Culture of Writing: Issues and Dilemmas in Participatory Action Research; Terry Locke and Shaun Hawthorne
32. Action Research and Organizational Change in Non-Profit Human Services: Reflections on a Collaborative Action Research Approach to Working with Child, Youth, and Family Organizations; Robert Urquhart and Michael Wearing
33. Donor Influence in Community-Based Action Research: A Typology for Advancing Reflexive Decision Making to Protect Participatory Values; David P. Moxley, Valerie Thompson, & Zermarie Deacon
34. Praxis and Axis: Theory as Practice in a Melanesian Case Study; Anitra Nelson and Natalie Moxham35. Through a Lens of Reinterpretation: Roles in Facilitated Action Research; Rachel Perry and Tim McGarry
36. Inside the Outside: Reflections on a Researcher's Positionality / Multiple "I's"; Nathalis Wamba
37. Digital Technology in Service of Action Research; Margaret Riel
38. Toward the Construction of a Local Knowledge Base on Teaching and Learning by and for Teachers and Learners; Joseph M. Shosh
39. Action Research and the Development of Expertise: Rethinking Teacher Education; Margaret Riel and Lonnie L. Rowell
Part V: Case Studies in Action ResearchIntroduction to Part V: Case Studies of Action Research: Looking Towards Cross-Case Analysis; Catherine D. Bruce
40. Arts-based and Participatory Action Research with Recycling Cooperatives; Jutta Gutberlet, Bruno de Oliveira Jayme & Crystal Tremblay
41. Border Pedagogy and Orientacion y Tutoria: A Case Study of USA-Mexico Collaborative Action Research; Shelley Barajas-Leyva and Lonnie L. Rowell
42. E-readers' Impact on Early Readers' Engagement and Literacy Achievement; Alicia Wenzel and Cheryl Peterson
43. Commentary on the Action Research Laboratory: A US School-Based Action Research Program; Joseph C. Senese
44. Fostering a School-Community Partnership for Mutual Learning and Development: A Participatory Action Learning and Action Research Approach; Lesley Wood and Bruce Damons
Part VI: Looking AheadIntroduction to Part VI; Joseph M. Shosh and Lonnie L. Rowell
45. Learning Together: Dialogue, Collaboration, and Reciprocal Transformation in a Nicaraguan Educational Program; Sharon M. Ravitch, Matthew J. Tarditi, Nayibe Montenegro, Duilio Baltodano, & Eveling Estrada
46. Participatory Action Research for Recovery of the Senses and Sources of Historic Memory; Cesar Osario-Sanchez
47. Linking Foresight and Action: Toward a Futures Action Research; Jose Ramos
48. Towards a Strategic Agenda for Global Action Research: Reflections on Alternative Globalization