The purpose of the article is to provide new perspectives on the concept of empowerment and empowering processes through theoretical studies and practical examples in action research. The terms are viewed particularly in light of Critical Utopian Action Research, CUAR. The research approach is based on three completed research projects that have been analyzed with a view to the importance of empowerment and empowering processes in action research projects. All of the projects show that the researchers systematically facilitated and wanted the participants to develop their subjectivity through their own empowering processes. In this way, the participants could use their experiences and reflections to become drivers of knowledge development in the projects. Their expertise, through their concrete and local experiences from work and everyday life, can be the basis for local opportunities for improvement and development of common knowledge. The development of the collaboration on a broad “common third” and a common reality horizon can contribute to knowledge development that takes place in collaboration. Action research can thus contribute to extending the concept of research so that the researcher no longer has the exclusive right to do what can be called research.