ABSTRACT
Community-based critical participatory action research (CPAR) relies on local citizens to engage in public history, civic action, and policy change. This chapter examines the nature of resistance, activism, and advocacy in the context of higher education and low-income housing policy through examining the historical relationship between a university and its community. In community-based CPAR, researchers work with community members and partners in order to address an issue of importance and then work toward outcomes defined by those citizens. We address the following question: “How can community-based organizations work to influence the university to address the issues impacting affordable housing?” through the construction of a community narrative that identifies the problem, provides historical context, and designs the conceptual and methodological framework for a critical action research project. Ultimately, this community narrative poses possible solutions for UVA to consider in navigating its responsibilities to the community in ways that improve the relationship between town and gown and fulfill its responsibilities as a “not only great but good university.”
