What does it mean to “decolonize” research?

Impact & SocietyDiversity Equity & Inclusion
Written By Janet Salmons

In the post Participatory Action Research as a Tool for Decolonising Research, Caroline Lenette says

Decolonisation seeks to redress and (where possible) reverse the impacts and persistent harms of colonisation, which are political, social, cultural, environmental, historical, mental, spiritual, and emotional (Wane, 2006). It refers to the struggle for self-determination and sovereignty. In academic contexts, debates on decolonisation recognise that academic institutions are built on colonial principles, which still permeate how we teach and research.

Learn more from this collection of Methodspace posts, interviews, webinar recordings and articles.

Featured
Decolonization, Technology, and Online Research
Q2-24, June 2024, Decolonization, Online Research
Decolonization, Technology, and Online Research
Q2-24, June 2024, Decolonization, Online Research

Decolonizing research methods means rethinking how we look at participants and problems. In the digital world there are even more ways the European West exerts cultural, economic, and political control. At the same time, the digital world allows researchers to conduct studies across the distances.

Q2-24, June 2024, Decolonization, Online Research
Think Before You Share: Navigating Power Hierarchies and Decoloniality in Research
Q2-2024, April 2024, Anna Cohen Miller, Almira Tabaeva, Decolonization
Think Before You Share: Navigating Power Hierarchies and Decoloniality in Research
Q2-2024, April 2024, Anna Cohen Miller, Almira Tabaeva, Decolonization

Co-authors share about a topic of decolonial research, privilege, and ethics. They write this piece in two parts, narrating their understanding of the experience and how it relates to power hierarchies and researcher responsibility.

Q2-2024, April 2024, Anna Cohen Miller, Almira Tabaeva, Decolonization
Epistemological Questions in Indigenous Research
Indigenous Methods, Decolonization, Q1-24
Epistemological Questions in Indigenous Research
Indigenous Methods, Decolonization, Q1-24

Read this collection of multidisciplinary articles to explore epistemological questions in Indigenous research.

Indigenous Methods, Decolonization, Q1-24
The Importance of Being Disruptive: On Decolonising Creative Research Methods
Q4, December 2023, Decolonization, Caroline Lenette, Helen Kara, CRM Conference
The Importance of Being Disruptive: On Decolonising Creative Research Methods
Q4, December 2023, Decolonization, Caroline Lenette, Helen Kara, CRM Conference

Caroline Lenette offered a keynote address at the International Creative Research Methods conference, September 2023. See the address and learn about the 2024 conference here.

Q4, December 2023, Decolonization, Caroline Lenette, Helen Kara, CRM Conference
Engaging with stakeholders: What can we learn from action researchers?
Q2, May 2023, Action Research, Participatory Action Research, Decolonization
Engaging with stakeholders: What can we learn from action researchers?
Q2, May 2023, Action Research, Participatory Action Research, Decolonization

View the webinar and find a multidisciplinary collection of posts and videos from Alfredo Ortiz Aragón, Rosalind Beadle, Ernie Stringer and their colleagues.

Q2, May 2023, Action Research, Participatory Action Research, Decolonization
Participatory Action Research as a Tool for Decolonising Research
Q2, Action Research, Caroline Lenette, May 2023, Decolonization
Participatory Action Research as a Tool for Decolonising Research
Q2, Action Research, Caroline Lenette, May 2023, Decolonization

Decolonisation is not a peripheral but central concern to social research for change. Learn more from Caroline Lenette, author of Participatory Action Research: Ethics and Decolonization.

Q2, Action Research, Caroline Lenette, May 2023, Decolonization
Using an Equity Lens to Design your Research
Q1, March 2023, equity, Decolonization
Using an Equity Lens to Design your Research
Q1, March 2023, equity, Decolonization

For researchers interested in incorporating equity into their work, it all starts at the very beginning with designing the study. Learn more in this guest post!

Q1, March 2023, equity, Decolonization
Understanding Cultural Issues in Research Design: A Webinar Panel
March 2022, Culture, Crosscultural, Sensitive, September 2022, Indigenous Methods, Decolonization, Webinar
Understanding Cultural Issues in Research Design: A Webinar Panel
March 2022, Culture, Crosscultural, Sensitive, September 2022, Indigenous Methods, Decolonization, Webinar

Watch the recorded “Understanding cultural issues in research design” webinar and find relevant resources.

March 2022, Culture, Crosscultural, Sensitive, September 2022, Indigenous Methods, Decolonization, Webinar
Studying Across Cultures: Research Articles
Culture, Crosscultural, March 2022, SAGE Journals, September 2022, Decolonization
Studying Across Cultures: Research Articles
Culture, Crosscultural, March 2022, SAGE Journals, September 2022, Decolonization

How can you conduct research in cultures different from your own? See this collection of open-access articles for ideas.

Culture, Crosscultural, March 2022, SAGE Journals, September 2022, Decolonization
Building Equitable Partnerships in International Research: Q & A
Doris Schroeder, Research Ethics, equity, Culture, Crosscultural, Decolonization
Building Equitable Partnerships in International Research: Q & A
Doris Schroeder, Research Ethics, equity, Culture, Crosscultural, Decolonization

We received many questions in this lively webinar. Watch the recording and read the panel’s responses in this post.

Doris Schroeder, Research Ethics, equity, Culture, Crosscultural, Decolonization
Equitable Research Partnerships instead of Helicopter Research
webinar, October 2021, Doris Schroeder, Charles Weijer, Syntia Nchangwi, Samuel Ujewe, Research Ethics, Culture, Crosscultural, Decolonization
Equitable Research Partnerships instead of Helicopter Research
webinar, October 2021, Doris Schroeder, Charles Weijer, Syntia Nchangwi, Samuel Ujewe, Research Ethics, Culture, Crosscultural, Decolonization

To do international research equitably requires a change to mind-sets and a change of established practices that have come under scrutiny for being unfair, exploitative, and non-inclusive.

webinar, October 2021, Doris Schroeder, Charles Weijer, Syntia Nchangwi, Samuel Ujewe, Research Ethics, Culture, Crosscultural, Decolonization
Indigenist/Anti-Colonial Research
Ethnography, Indigenous Methods, IndigenousArticles, Journals, Decolonization
Indigenist/Anti-Colonial Research
Ethnography, Indigenous Methods, IndigenousArticles, Journals, Decolonization

Although Indigenous scholars have been documenting Indigenous research methodologies, little has been written on the practical considerations of doing research across Indigenous/Settler contexts. Read these open access articles as part of the Indigenous & Intercultural Research focus this month.

Ethnography, Indigenous Methods, IndigenousArticles, Journals, Decolonization
Janet Salmons
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