Beyond Essentialism, Crossing Borders: Amalgamating Postcolonial and Border Crossing Theory to Navigate Power and Research

• In Event: Contentious Issues and Cutting-Edge Perspectives in Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to map out the intersections between postcolonial theory and border theories as they pertain to qualitative research. In this paper we delineate how the coupling of postcolonial theory with border crossing theory can offer researchers analytic opportunities to agentically center marginalized groups while exposing institutional and individual power in ways that resist tendencies to essentialize difference. Through Author 1’s work regarding the experiences and forces that shape how Black males in Bermuda and the United States form identities and define success, and Author 2’s research examining the experiences of Iraqi and Indigenous Burmese refugees living in North Carolina, the researchers offer implications for amalgamating postcolonial and border crossing theory in qualitative research.

Authors

• Ty-Ron M.O. Douglas, University of Missouri - Columbia

• Silvia C. Bettez, University of North Carolina - Greensboro