Co-production in scholarly activity: Valuing the social capital of lay people and volunteers

Within the domains of health and social care the expertise of patients, service users, volunteers and carers is becoming increasingly recognized and valued. Their involvement in various aspects of research and service development is becoming more common through 'co-production', emphasizing the social capital of these groups in contributing to new types of knowledge and service development. This article develops the notion of 'co-production' further by discussing the value of involving lay people, volunteers, service users and carers in scholarly writing and dissemination activities, and will explore ways of achieving this. Bourdieu's General Theoretical Framework is used to explore how the field of 'higher education' can embrace the social and cultural capital of those outside of the academy in both research and scholarly writing activities, and how volunteers and lay researchers can be supported in such activities. Findings: In producing this article, two volunteers were asked to reflect on their experiences of becoming researchers, and their thoughts about disseminating the research findings through scholarly writing. The social capital of experts by experience can be valued within scholarly writing, and through this creative process different representations and understandings of the social world we live in begin to emerge. Application: The importance of synthesizing alternate epistemologies within academic debate and discourse is centrally important when involving lay people and volunteers in research. This serves to stretch the boundaries of professional knowledge further, and contributes 'insider' perspectives to our understanding of social life.