The debt diaries: Turning participatory ethnography into action research

This article examines how piloting a diary method became pivotal in transforming a participatory ethnography on household debt in Greece and Spain into full-fledged Action Research —driven and shaped by the diary-writing participants themselves. We analyse the evolving dynamics between researchers and diary authors, as an initial phase of solitary diary writing prompted the collaborative development of workshops with drama and theatre methods which, in turn, catalysed dialogue, critical reflection, and collective empowerment. These engagements not only enabled diary authors to articulate previously silenced issues around indebted subjectivity, but also repositioned them as central agents and co-researchers, enabling the research team to fully inhabit the role of situated Action Researchers.