Dialogue Circles: Thinking-Feeling Collectively for Social Research

Abstract

In recent decades, Dialogue Circles have been systematized and promoted in restorative justice practices. This article proposes their use as a qualitative and participatory research method in the Social Sciences, based on the author's experience in her doctoral research on Alternative Food Networks. In this context, Dialogue Circles provided an in-depth understanding of the complexity of people’s food realities while also helping participants expand their awareness of the multiple relationships that shape their daily eating practices. Dialogue Circles are based on the creation of spaces for listening and expression, where people can share feelings, thoughts, and experiences on various topics, including historical events, significant community processes, inherited knowledge, relationships with nature, and territorial transformations. This study presents their functioning, foundations, implications, and scope to encourage their incorporation into academic research. This reflection on Dialogue Circles as a tool for data collection and generation is expected to encourage their use and the development of methods to approach collective thinking-feeling. In this way, it seeks to contribute to the co-construction of situated knowledge that values complexity, multiple perspectives, interconnections between different processes, and the care of relationships among those involved in research.