Unpacking the Visible and the Hidden: Racism, Whiteness and Epistemic Oppression in the Canadian Academy
From Ceyanna Meroniuk
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*Originally recorded November 15, 2024*
Dr. Nathan Andrews
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science at McMaster University
Abstract: It is known that Canadian higher education has an issue with racism, which is symptomatic of the underrepresentation and marginalization of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and Persons of Colour) scholars. While often considered to be objective and value-free, science itself is situated in social and political contexts that cannot be isolated. What, then, are the impacts of racism on how science is ‘done’ in the Canadian academic context? Using a triangulation of approaches, such as syllabi analyses, interviews, and event ethnography (of annual conferences for geosciences, political science, and neuroscience), this transdisciplinary study contributes to an understanding of the intersections of racism, whiteness, epistemic oppression, and their connection with the institutional inertia to diversity and meaningful transformation. The findings underpin the colonial roots of our academic disciplines and the marginalization of BIPOC scholars, which manifests in faculty experiences of systemic barriers, the ‘leaky pipeline’, and disproportionate division of labour among other outcomes. This study emphasizes not only the importance of trans/cross-disciplinary work to better understand the nuanced impacts of racism, whiteness and epistemic oppression on BIPOC scholars in different fields but also highlights that these impacts can occur in both visible and hidden ways.
Interested in the podcast? Check it out on spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UYHejk97Vq2udUBRGmvhJ?si=2a08d945c79b493b
Speaker's Bio: Nathan Andrews is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at McMaster University and an adjunct professor at UNBC. He is currently affiliated with the German Institute for Global and Area Studies as an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow and is also a new member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of Scholars, Artists and Scientists. One aspect of Dr. Andrews’ research focuses on the global political economy/ecology of natural resource extraction and development. Publications on this topic have appeared in journals such as International Affairs, Resources Policy, World Development, Energy Research & Social Science, Business & Society Review, and Globalizations including recent co-edited books, Extractive Bargains: Natural Resources and the State-Society Nexus (Palgrave, 2023) and Natural Resource-Based Development in Africa: Panacea or Pandora’s Box? (University of Toronto Press, 2022). A second aspect of his research revolves around the scholarship of teaching and learning, in particular critical international relations, epistemic hegemony, racism and whiteness in knowledge production and dissemination. This area of work is the subject of this presentation and his publications on these themes can be found in Journal of Pan African Studies, Third World Quarterly, International Studies Perspectives and a co-edited book, Decolonizing African Studies Pedagogies: Knowledge Production, Epistemic Imperialism and Black Agency (Palgrave, 2023).
Dr. Nathan Andrews
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science at McMaster University
Abstract: It is known that Canadian higher education has an issue with racism, which is symptomatic of the underrepresentation and marginalization of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and Persons of Colour) scholars. While often considered to be objective and value-free, science itself is situated in social and political contexts that cannot be isolated. What, then, are the impacts of racism on how science is ‘done’ in the Canadian academic context? Using a triangulation of approaches, such as syllabi analyses, interviews, and event ethnography (of annual conferences for geosciences, political science, and neuroscience), this transdisciplinary study contributes to an understanding of the intersections of racism, whiteness, epistemic oppression, and their connection with the institutional inertia to diversity and meaningful transformation. The findings underpin the colonial roots of our academic disciplines and the marginalization of BIPOC scholars, which manifests in faculty experiences of systemic barriers, the ‘leaky pipeline’, and disproportionate division of labour among other outcomes. This study emphasizes not only the importance of trans/cross-disciplinary work to better understand the nuanced impacts of racism, whiteness and epistemic oppression on BIPOC scholars in different fields but also highlights that these impacts can occur in both visible and hidden ways.
Interested in the podcast? Check it out on spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UYHejk97Vq2udUBRGmvhJ?si=2a08d945c79b493b
Speaker's Bio: Nathan Andrews is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at McMaster University and an adjunct professor at UNBC. He is currently affiliated with the German Institute for Global and Area Studies as an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow and is also a new member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of Scholars, Artists and Scientists. One aspect of Dr. Andrews’ research focuses on the global political economy/ecology of natural resource extraction and development. Publications on this topic have appeared in journals such as International Affairs, Resources Policy, World Development, Energy Research & Social Science, Business & Society Review, and Globalizations including recent co-edited books, Extractive Bargains: Natural Resources and the State-Society Nexus (Palgrave, 2023) and Natural Resource-Based Development in Africa: Panacea or Pandora’s Box? (University of Toronto Press, 2022). A second aspect of his research revolves around the scholarship of teaching and learning, in particular critical international relations, epistemic hegemony, racism and whiteness in knowledge production and dissemination. This area of work is the subject of this presentation and his publications on these themes can be found in Journal of Pan African Studies, Third World Quarterly, International Studies Perspectives and a co-edited book, Decolonizing African Studies Pedagogies: Knowledge Production, Epistemic Imperialism and Black Agency (Palgrave, 2023).
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