Abstract:

Architecture, urban studies, planning, and allied fields are rife with extractive, colonial, racist, and otherwise harmful research activities that are complicit in, or actively support, white supremacy. Identifying a positive vision of research that supports racially just outcomes and differentiating it from efforts that simply study racialized difference are important steps for institutions seeking to better support anti-racist research (which may be described using a range of descriptors including e.g., ‘abolitionist,’ ‘emancipatory,’ or ‘decolonial’). Our research team conducted a mixed-methods study to identify: 1) characteristics and practices common across scholarly research that explicitly aims to advance racial justice, 2) institutional barriers to research that supports racially just outcomes, and 3) best practices to enable and support research practices and projects that advance racial justice. We identify foundational and supporting characteristics of anti-racist research as well as key challenges and supports for academics seeking to develop anti-racist research and pedagogy, resulting in preliminary guidelines for research.