Decolonial Dialogic Encounters: Engaging AsianCrit as a Research Methodology

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 9:45 am - Gold 4
  In Roundtable Session: What is Possible: New Methodologies in Qualitative Research

Abstract

This article advances Asian Critical Theory (AsianCrit) as a methodology rather than solely a theoretical framework, challenging the methodological nationalism that has historically constrained research on Asian American and Asian (im)migrant experiences in U.S. education. While AsianCrit has been employed as an analytical tool, its potential to interrogate transnational coloniality and resist systemic erasures remains underdeveloped. We critique dominant qualitative paradigms that fragment racialized experiences into decontextualized themes, arguing instead for a decolonial dialogic approach that centers AsianCrit’s seven tenets (Asianization, transnational contexts, (re)constructive history, strategic (anti)essentialism, intersectionality, story/theory/praxis, and social justice), across all research phases. By methodologizing AsianCrit, we offer a transgressive framework to (re)theorize racialization, amplify diasporic consciousness, and align research with liberatory praxis.

Authors

• Robert J. Lynn, Texas Tech University

• Brendon M. Soltis, Michigan State University