what we do
the action/research/collective [a/r/co] is a network of independent researchers who aim to support social movements in their struggle against structural injustice, inequality, and violence.
we conduct small, tailored research projects on demand for community organizers and activists.
we investigate background contexts, gather information and try to make knowledge more accessible. civil society groups can use this information to analyze political developments, discuss goals and develop strategies.
all work by a/r/co is independent, confidential and unpaid.
who we support
we work for self-organized, non-state, non-profit and non-corporate actors who strive for a more equitable and just society, including groups
whose work and values are:
- anti-fascist
- anti-racist
- anti-colonial
- advocating cooperative & solidarity economy,
- feminist, or
- advocating queer liberation
why research
activists often have much more expertise in their field of action than researchers. but while being busy with educating, agitating and organising, they sometimes lack the time for deep dives and background investigations. this is where we as researchers offer our solidarity.
we support communities, movements, and organizers in their commitment to knowledge-production, education and mobilization. this work is all the more necessary in these dark times of rising right-wing nationalism, fascism, and state-sponsored violence.
‚a/r/co‘ is not only the acronym for action/research/collective.
‚arco‘ also means ‚arch‘ or ‚bow‘. it serves as a bridge between research and activism, but also as an instrument that supports activists in targeting injustice.
what we offer
upon request, we conduct small-scale free-of-charge investigations and trainings to meet the specific needs of your community or activist group. you tell us what you need, and we see what we can do, depending on our time resources, access to sources, and consistency with our values.
we support a wide range of activities including:
tailored background research and monitoring
our research aims to facilitate your work in various ways such as: background research for speeches, texts and campaigns; media screening of political developments; collection and analysis of statistics; content analysis of media, speeches, policy documents, etc.; archival research; comparative case studies across contexts and fields of activism; network analyses (in and outside of social media); interviews and surveys with persons of interest; and fact checking. moreover, we can act as participant-observers at public events – demonstrations, meetings, court cases –, counting or surveying participants, or monitoring police behaviour.
facilitating knowledge transfer
we are committed to make research results and analytical knowledge more accessible in less academic language. Therefore we provide literature reviews and overviews of theories and debates taking place among academics and activists. We can assist in the systematisation and visualisation of collected information. moreover, we can review and edit activists´ texts for publications, reports, or websites.
language and media support
we can help with the creation of international networks through linguistic support. this may include facilitating contact and knowledge-exchange with like-minded activists in other countries, translating correspondence and facilitating meetings. At the moment, we operate in english, spanish, german, italian, and greek.
the mainstream media often ignores grassroots social activism and tends to cover primarily established, top-down, and well-connected organisations. we can help make activist groups more visible by providing basic support activities such as editing press releases and organising targeted training sessions to share tips on how to stretch your outreach and be more effective in interviews and media appearances.
support for scholar-activists
we offer informal academic peer review for early career scholar-activists and researchers of articles, research projects, or application proposals. we also provide short trainings or workshops covering different research methods and research design.
topics we have worked on
- protest tactics & cycles
- history of social movements & resistance
- police & state violence
- far-right discourse, politics & violence
- visual communication, memes & online media
- artistic activism
- platform & internet governance
- digital activism & repression
- global north-south relations
- racism & (neo)colonialism
- migration & refugee politics
- international cooperation
- gender & power relations
- (post-) conflict dynamics
- conflict transformation & dialogue
- and some more…
who we are
we are a loose network of people who have a background in academia and enjoy doing research with political relevance. some of us also have experience in political activism and social movements.
we are financially and institutionally independent.
this gives us the freedom to support who we want, but also limits our capacities in terms of time and resources.
we are currently based in berlin and london.
we speak english, german, italian, greek, and spanish.
how to contact us
to see if we can contribute to your work, please make an initial contact via mail: actionresearch@protonmail.com
(your mail will be encrypted if you write it from a Protonmail account).
for a more detailed exchange, we will suggest a secure digital communication channel or a personal meeting, depending on your location.
a/r/co 