Anti-Colonial Research Praxis : Methods for Knowledge Justice

How can anti-colonial research methodologies be transformative and achieve knowledge justice? This book brings together an eclectic group of leading scholars from around the world to share methodological knowledge grounded in First Nations and majority-world expertise and wisdom. The authors challenge western-centric and colonial approaches to knowledge production and redefine the possibilities of what we can achieve through social research.

First Nations and majority-world perspectives are contextual and unique. They share a common aim of disrupting established beliefs on research methodologies and the unquestioned norms that dictate whose knowledge the academy values. The ten chapters in this edited collection describe how the authors draw on Indigenous knowledge systems, feminist frameworks, and creative methodologies as anti-colonial research praxis. The examples span several disciplines such as development studies, geography, education, sexual and reproductive health, humanitarian studies, and social work. Authors use a reflexive approach to discuss specific factors that shape how they engage in research ethically, to lead readers through a reflection on their own practices and values. The book reimagines social research using an anti-colonial lens and concludes with a collaboratively developed and co-written set of provocations for anti-colonial research praxis that situate this important work in the context of ongoing colonial violence and institutional constraints.

This book is an essential guide for researchers and scholars within and beyond the academy on how anti-colonial research praxis can produce meaningful outcomes, especially in violent and troubled times.

Cover art courtesy of Tawny Chatmon