The role of ethnography and hip-hop in community-based research: toward a decolonial pedagogy

Purpose What is the role and when and where is the power of ethnography in projects that strive toward decoloniality? By tracing my trajectory as an ethnographer-educator, the purpose of this article is to critically examine the role of ethnography in community-based initiatives, particularly its potential to foster community partnerships, cultivate new pedagogies and work toward community-identified change. Design/methodology/approach Grounded in decolonial thinking and action, examples from ethnographic research projects in Ecuador and South Carolina illustrate efforts toward doing research (and teaching) otherwise. Through a discussion of mixed-methods research projects, faculty–student research collaboratives and ethnography as decolonial pedagogy, this article grapples with ethnographic missteps and decolonial (mis)understandings that line the processes of relationship-building. Findings Reflecting on ethnographic research projects on hip-hop, condemned and abandoned properties, youth perspectives on neighborhoods and employment barriers experienced by residents of public housing, this article demonstrates the shifting role of ethnography across research contexts. Sometimes serving as a tool to build trust, other times serving as a collaborative teaching tool and other times useful in participatory action efforts, the diverse roles of ethnography in the community-centered projects described in this article demonstrate the work-in-progress of decoloniality. Originality/value Decoloniality cannot happen in silos, and this article draws upon Maldonado-Torres to underscore the barriers that separate Academia and communities as well as the opportunity and challenge to disrupt hierarchies and commit to an ongoing collective praxis that brings together our teaching, research and engagement.