Praxis intervention
Praxis intervention is a form of participatory action research that emphasizes working on the praxis potential, or phronesis, of its participants. This contrasts with other forms of participatory action research, which emphasize the collective modification of the external world. Praxis potential means the members' potential to reflexively work on their respective mentalities; participant here refers not just to the clientele beneficiaries of the praxis intervention project, but also the organisers and experts participating in such a project. Praxis intervention is intended to lead its members through a "participant objectivation". The method prioritizes unsettling the settled mentalities, especially where the settled mindsets prevalent in the social world or individuals is suspected to have sustained or contributed to their suffering or marginality. Reflexive and routine praxis Karl Marx conceptualized praxis in two forms: reflexive and non-reflexive. The reflexive praxis represents the moment of change in the dialectic, while the non-reflexive praxis operates as a routinizing mechanism within ideologies, serving to maintain the status quo. For Marx, the non-reflexive habituating praxis leads to false consciousness and alienation. Mihailo Marković expanded on the concept of praxis, identifying key elements such as creativity, autonomy, sociality, rationality, and intentionality. These moments of praxis offer alternatives to sameness, subordination, massification, blind reaction, and compliance. Reasons Praxis intervention makes research, creative expression or technology development into a bottom-up process. It democratizes making of art, science, technology and critical conscience. The praxis intervention method aims at provoking members to unsettle their settled mindsets and to have a fresh look at the world around and intervene. For instance, members may take a fresh critical look on the gender relations existing, if the praxis intervention method is applied to study gender relations. They would be unsettling their biographically and structurally ingrained perceptions of gender relations and freshly look at it. A gradual process by which members are helped to reflexively recognize the arbitrary and discriminating mindsets within themselves and the world around and working towards correcting it is praxis intervention. The praxis intervention method helps members to struggle against structurally ingrained discrimination. Praxis intervention helps respondents to come out with answers which they would not have otherwise expressed. Questionnaire based surveys, formal interviews, and even focus group discussions are not useful to help respondents to come out with genuine answers to the questions posed at them. Praxis intervention as it helps groups of people probing their own conditions phase by phase through prolonged discussions, experiments and conscious explorations is capable of coming out with better quality data that could be useful for the group to challenge existing epistemic structures and work out their own well-being. Praxis intervention is useful wherever reflexivity is a major component in a research project. Systematic participant objectivation Praxis intervention interferes not only with the habitus of the people with whom the action research is carried out, but also the praxis intervention practitioner's own habitus. In this respect, the practice of praxis intervention is also a systematic participant objectivation. Participatory objectivation is "objectifying the act of objectification".