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Contribution short abstract

Field narratives from the slums of Kolkata show how participatory development occurs amidst uncertainty, changes in power dynamics, and collaborative actions in daily interactions between researchers and local communities.

Contribution long abstract

• This paper aims to explore participatory research as a dynamic and contested practice within the slums of Kolkata, emphasizing field narratives that uncover the complexities of power, agency, and performativity in the context of everyday development work. Drawing on extended engagement in informal settlements influenced by redevelopment initiatives, welfare programs, and political interactions, the papers focus on fieldnotes, discussions, and encounters that are ambiguous, incomplete, and context-dependent. Participation is seen not as a fixed method but as a process that is enacted and negotiated through daily exchanges among researchers, community members, intermediaries, and government representatives.

• Local stories from Kolkata’s slums—pertaining to housing eligibility, infrastructure access, fears of displacement, and daily survival—illustrate how agency manifests through compliance, resistance, and selective silence. Fieldnotes reveal how community members engage in participation to fulfill institutional expectations, while researchers wrestle with ethical challenges, trust issues, and evolving roles. Participatory approaches such as interviews, focus groups, mapping, and informal discussions are highlighted as relational practices shaped by uneven power dynamics and unpredictable timelines.

• In line with the panel’s focus on uncertainty, collaboration, and vulnerability, this paper reflects on instances where participation redistributes authority and where it may also reinforce tokenism. By prioritizing field narratives from Kolkata, the paper reconceptualizes development practice as a continual process of listening, adapting, and reflective engagement, attentive to the politics surrounding knowledge.