Little, S. orcid.org/0000-0002-9902-0217, Zhou, Y., Heathcote, S. et al. (2 more authors) (2025) We need to talk about racism: co-constructing research with young people from multilingual Chinese backgrounds. Journal of Race, Ethnicity and Politics. ISSN 2056-6085
Abstract
This paper, co-authored by two adult academics and three young researchers aged 11 to 16, investigates the authors’ collective experiences in a participatory research project about growing up multilingual with Chinese heritage and migration background, where race and racism emerged as key themes. Drawing on critical dialectical pluralism and the concept of “reflexivities of discomfort,” we explore how co-constructing research with children and young people can enrich the research process. Despite the intricate and often opaque nature of discussing racism, especially anti-Asian racism, with children from migration backgrounds, this study advocates for participatory research as a critical tool for uncovering these complexities, paving the way for more open and meaningful conversations. In collaboration with young researchers, we reevaluate the role of research and researchers in discussing racism, (de)construct children as experts of their racialized experiences, and imagine the future of researching racism with children through what we call “collective reflexivity”—a practice of open discussions that highlight young people’s positionalities, experiences, and insights. Through practices that protect individuality and value personal experience, our work makes a methodological contribution by offering “collective reflexivity” and co-authorship as a pathway that ensures children are not viewed as “representatives,” but valued for their positionalities, encouraging more engaged and critical conversations on race and racism with them.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Participatory research; racism; children; multilingual; co-authorship |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > School of Education |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 12 Mar 2025 13:52 |
Last Modified: | 13 Mar 2025 11:38 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/rep.2025.20 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:224334 |