Anticolonial: Reflects the practice of identifying coloniality and how it manifests in learning, knowledge, and knowledge production; to take an anticolonial stance means to oppose settler colonial logic and practices but does not directly address the “repatriation of land and alterations to material conditions” that is captured in a decolonizing stance (Patel, 2014, p. 360). For related definitions, see coloniality vs. colonialism and decolonization.
Antiracism: It “is the active process of identifying and eliminating racism by changing systems, organizational structures, policies and practices and attitudes, so that power is redistributed and shared equitably” (Alberta Civil Liberties Centre as cited in the Franklin & Marshall College Library’s Antiracist Resources).
Coloniality vs. colonialism: Colonialism reflects “the sovereignty of a nation or a people [that] rests on the power of another nation, which makes such nation an empire” whereas coloniality captures the “long-standing patterns of power that emerged as a result of colonialism,” persists beyond colonialism, and is embedded in many elements of culture and society (Maldonado-Torres, 2007, p. 243). Coloniality is maintained through contexts such as criteria for academic performance, books, false dichotomies (e.g., White/Person of Color), views of self and others, and so on (Maldonado-Torres, 2007).
Decolonization: Although this definition is not always agreed upon, Tuck and Yang (2012) argue that “decolonization in the settler colonial context must involve the repatriation of land simultaneous to the recognition of how land and relations to land have always already been differently understood and enacted; that is, all of the land, and not just symbolically” (pg. 7., italics in original); to avoid using this term as a metaphor, the term “anticolonial” might be more appropriate if land repatriation is not involved. For related definitions, see anticolonial and coloniality vs. colonialism.
Diversity: This reflects “the wide range of variation of living organisms in an ecosystem. When describing people and the representation or composition of various population and social identity groups in a work group, organization, or community, diversity can include such factors as race, ethnicity, culture, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, religion, spirituality, disability, age, national origin, immigration status, and language. There is a recognition that people have multiple identities and that social identities are intersectional and have different salience and impact in different contexts” (American Psychological Association, 2024).
Equality: It is “rooted in concepts of equal access or equal opportunity” and involves “equivalent access to resources no matter the ascriptive characteristics to the person”; it “requires equalizing inputs” (Strunk & Locke, 2019, p. 298).
Equity: It “goes beyond equality, to include fairness and equal inclusion” and “can include measures beyond equal access or equal treatment as a way to remedy injustice and historical underrepresentation”; it “requires equalizing outcomes, which might necessitate unequal inputs” (Strunk & Locke, 2019, p. 298).
Ethnicity: Reflects group membership based on culture and decent; “an ethnic group is considered to be a group of people that shares common characteristics such as a shared nation or region of origin, ancestry, language, and culture, as well as a sense of solidarity” (DeCuir-Gunby & Schutz, 2014, p. 245).
Inclusion: Is “an environment that offers affirmation, celebration, and appreciation of different approaches, styles, perspectives, and experiences, thus allowing all individuals to bring in their whole selves (and all their identities) and to demonstrate their strengths and capacity” (American Psychological Association, 2024).
Microaggressions: Microaggressions are “subtle verbal and non-verbal insults directed toward non-Whites, often done automatically or unconsciously. They are layered insults based on one’s race, gender, class, sexuality, language, immigration status, phenotype, accent, or surname. Microaggressions are also cumulative and cause unnecessary stress to People of Color while privileging Whites” (Solórzano et al., 2002).
Positionality: This “involves critical examination of a [person’s] social position, especially as positioned within power structures,” and as the positioning relates to other people, research, teaching practice, course content, and so on (Strunk & Locke, 2019, p. 302).
Positionality statement or subjectivity statement: In academic contexts, this is a statement of how a person is connected to the work that they are doing, whether it is in relation to their teaching or research; it “highlights any experiences you have with the subject area,” is used “as a means of disclosing any relationships you may have with the topic being explored,” and “is important because it helps to reveal any biases, attachments, or insights you may have to the topic” (DeCuir-Gunby & Schutz, 2017, pp. 50-51).
Race: It “is a dynamic set of historically derived and institutional ideas and practices that (1) sorts people into ethnic groups according to perceived physical and behavioral human characteristics; (2) associates differential value, power, and privilege with these characteristics and establishes a social status ranking among the different groups; and (3) emerges (a) when groups are perceived to pose a threat (political, economic, or cultural) to each other’s world view of way of life; and/or (b) to justify the denigration and exploitation (past, current, or future) of, and prejudice toward, other groups” (Markus, 2008, p. 654).
Race-focused research: Focuses on “constructs (e.g., racial identity, racial socialization, stereotype threat, etc.) [that] are centered around issues of race and are developed from racial categorizations and racial categorization theories” (DeCuir-Gunby & Schutz, 2014, p. 244); this research illustrates “that race is more than just a static social marker, but a dynamic intermingling of social experiences (e.g., socialization, threat, opportunities, stigma) that color the ways individuals think and behave in the world” (Matthews & López, 2020, p. 2).
Race-reimaged research: Focuses on “traditional constructs (e.g., self-efficacy, self-regulation,
achievement motivation, etc.) that are reconceptualized to include racially influenced, sociocultural perspectives (e.g. history, context, multiple identities, etc.)” (DeCuir-Gunby & Schutz, 2014, p. 244); this research “encourages us to “see” the psychological construct through the eyes of the group we are studying in order to understand both the generalizable and culturally-nuanced elements of that construct” (Matthews & López, 2020, p. 2)
Reflexivity: A critical analysis of one’s own positionalities in a given context (e.g., in teaching, research, etc.); involves the critical reflection and questioning of one’s “social positioning and social location” in relation to other people and the larger context (Strunk & Locke, 2019, p. 303).
Social justice: This term has been defined in many ways over the years, which has made it difficult to clarify (Reisch, 2016); as one example of a definition, Caravelis and Robinson (2016) suggest that social justice is “promoting a just society by challenging injustice and valuing diversity” and that it exists when “all people share a common humanity and therefore have a right to equitable treatment, support for their human rights, and a fair allocation of community resources” (as quoted in Taylor & Francis, n. d.).
Tokenism: Reflects the “symbolic effort to include members of underrepresented groups to create the impression of social inclusiveness and diversity, without ongoing or meaningful inclusion” (Strunk & Locke, 2019, p. 304).
References
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