What’s Race Got to Do With It? Critical Race Theory’s Conflicts With and Connections to Qualitative Research Methodology and Epistemology

TLDR

The article aims to establish a theoretical foundation for using critical race theory as a methodological and epistemological lens to uncover how race and racism shape education and minority lives in the United States. The authors achieve this by situating CRT within its socio‑historical roots, arguing for its necessity in educational and qualitative research, and evaluating its compatibility and tensions with existing qualitative methodologies.

Abstract

This article will provide the theoretical and conceptual grounding for forthcoming discussions regarding how critical race theory (CRT), as a discourse of liberation, can be used as a methodological and epistemological tool to expose the ways race and racism affect the education and lives of racial minorities in the United States. To that extent, the goal is threefold. First, the authors seek to adequately define CRT by situating it within a specific socio-historical context. Second, they seek to present an argument for why there is a need for CRT in educational and qualitative research. In doing so, they discuss the ways concerns regarding race and racism have or have not been addressed previously in educational research. Finally, they speculate about what lies ahead. In doing so, they fully assess the possible points of agreement and conflicts between CRT and qualitative research in education.