A Black feminist approach to antiracist qualitative research methods: Commemorating the legacy of bell hooks

• Published in: Current sociology Vol. 72; no. 6; pp. 1185 - 1203
• Main Author: Au, Anson
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.10.2024; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Accountability; Bricolage; Debates; Epistemology; Feminism; Fieldwork; Marginality; Qualitative research; Research methodology; Research subjects; Teaching; Uptake; qualitative research methods; Antiracism; identités marginalisées; feminismo negro; identidades marginadas; Black feminism; antiracisme; epistemology; antirracismo; epistemología; bell hooks; épistémologie; féminisme noir; métodos de investigación cualitativos; marginalized identities; méthodes de recherche qualitative
• ISSN: 0011-3921; 1461-7064
• DOI: 10.1177/00113921221146583

This article commemorates the legacy of bell hooks by bringing core themes in her oeuvre to bear on several debates on the conceptualization and use of qualitative research methods in sociology. Despite the uptake of qualitative research methods in sociology as a launching point for critical inquiry with analytical and political overtones, they have been fragmented threefold by debates about their politics (whether to humanize research subjects), practice (whether to intervene in field research), and epistemology (procedural, craft, and bricolage orientations). Reflecting on the legacy of bell hooks, this article articulates a Black feminist approach by unearthing methodological and epistemological themes underwritten in hooks’ work (inclusive pedagogy, creative dialogue, and reflexive accountability) to offer new perspectives on the three debates and, in so doing, to identify ways to better qualitative research methods as tools for emancipating the marginalized – by invigorating cross-professional and transdisciplinary dialogue, collaboration, and love.