The Fear of Critical Race Methodologies

Abstract Critical race methodologies (CRM), which prioritise the experiences and knowledge of racialised peoples, have become a useful tool to identify and acknowledge racialised power relations in all aspects of the research process. However, engaging with these methodologies requires researchers to not only move away from western scientific research methodologies, which have historically excluded the knowledges and lived experiences of racialised peoples, but confront the legacy of methodological Whiteness. To explore this further, this article takes a self-reflexive account on why International Non-Governmental Organisations [(I)NGOs], who have a long history of (re)producing harmful images of racialised peoples, fear the adoption of CRM based on this tension. Drawing on Bantu Steve Biko’s and Lewis Gordon’s conceptualisation of racism, fear and Black Consciousness, this paper argues that CRM should not be seen as an attack on methodological Whiteness, but an opportunity to advocate for a sector-wide introspection on the methodological choices which not only centre on the inclusion of marginalised voices, but recognise the need for a redistribution of power to challenge prevailing hierarchies within (I)NGOs.