“We’re Ready to Level Up”: Exploring a Cross-Racial Participatory Critical Ethnography

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 4:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Racializing Social Contexts

Abstract

This paper complicates and advances methodological and epistemological approaches to ethnography by analyzing a three-year partnership with one youth-serving out-of-school time (OST) education non-profit. This paper asks: How does participatory and critical ethnography advance thick solidarity? What tensions emerged and how do these insights contribute to visions of educational inquiry rooted in relationships and collective action? The thick solidarity approach allows me to “research up” on white elites and private donors, while simultaneously collaborating with a Black-led education non-profit in a shared project for social change. As such, this paper demonstrates that when applied in tandem, critical ethnography, participatory ethnography, and thick solidarity can generate increased accountability and advance educational scholarship aimed at justice.

Author

• Abbie Cohen, Colby College