191. Research Otherwise: Building and Communicating Indigenous-Informed Research
Pedro Reynolds-Cuellar, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Alvin Harvey, MIT; Jacqueline Paul, MIT;
The continued expansion of discourse around decolonial theory and practices into academic, industry, and government contexts -the result of scholarship, activism and community-based work- provides an opportunity for new generations of academics and practitioners to be exposed to a wider range of knowledge generation and sharing possibilities.
Indigenous research methodologies and methods, which center on knowledge, wisdom, and lifeways of Indigenous peoples worldwide, provide a valuable place of grounding and understanding into alternative ways of knowing and living. These Indigenous-informed paradigms are seeing wider acceptance due to their ability to integrate plurality, embrace complexity, and promote collaboration and reciprocity. However, more detailed accounts of how to start, put into action, maintain, and communicate research in these terms are needed, particularly as inspiration for new generations of practitioners and academics. Communicating this type of research, for example, can be challenging due to power dynamics, institutionalized biases or cultural misalignments, often leading to resistance and pushback from those clinging to traditional Western scientific approaches, limiting the scope and impact of decolonial research.
In this panel -split into two moments- we aim to (1) highlight specific examples of how work can be built and/or communicated on the backbone of Indigenous methodologies and methods across academia, government and/or industry, across multiple areas of knowledge. And (2) highlight concrete examples of how this work can be communicated across different contexts. We invite submissions from community members, practitioners, government officials or academics, describing case studies or experiences in relation to these goals.
