We’ve Been Here Before: An Open Letter to Defy, Resist, and Build

Abstract

We write this open letter in a historical moment in which President Trump has at once been described as “making America great” and “making America weak.” In this letter, we take up the position that Trump’s rise to power offers visible evidence of settler colonialism, white supremacy, and the permanence of racism. Drawing upon critical race theory and postcritical ethnography, we highlight how this radical new ‘normal’ is one that requires us, as qualitative researchers, to think carefully about our work, our practices, and the ways we navigate and come to know in the world. Specifically, we discuss how we might represent in our work structural violence that defies explanation. We thus invite readers to engage in the production of narratives that disrupt and resist seducing readers into substituting participation with consumption.