Why it’s important for researchers to think bigger than themselves
I am currently enrolled in HIS265 — History of Black Canadians — at UTSG, taught by the outstanding Professor Funke Aladejebi and assisted by Arshad Suliman. This course introduced me to the incredible scholarship of Barrington Walker, a modern Canadian historian who focuses on Black Canadian history, race, immigration, and law.
We studied his feature article “A Critical History of Black People in Canada” in our 2022 book. Unsettling the Great White North: Black Canadian History, Co-edited by Aladejebi and York University professor Michelle A. Johnson. In his article, Walker urges black historians in Canada to ask the question, “What do we want from black history?” Under research. He encourages historians to use their research as a means to help the Black Canadian community “free Black people from the horrors of the racial state.”
I highlight Walker’s scholarship here to raise awareness of the importance of understanding that research has purposes beyond knowledge production. I believe his work challenges scholars to think of their discipline as bigger than themselves and to recognize the impact of their work. This is especially true when it represents the culture, way of life, and livelihoods of people within the community where the research is centered.
Why is it important to think bigger than yourself?
In her book, Amanda L. Logan cites another great scholarly work. Scarcity slots: Unearthing the history of food security in Ghana, We talk about how anthropologists in the past have consistently made ignorant assumptions about Africa’s food systems, premised on racist perceptions of Africans and the African continent. The colonial legacy as a result of imperialism has evaded critical analysis by researchers when investigating and addressing the issue of food insecurity on the African continent.
Logan points out that ethnographers, anthropologists and archaeologists need to combat these harmful misconceptions in order to influence the policies and programs that develop on the continent. For example, given these common misconceptions, international organizations should actively work to increase food production, rather than recognizing that rising food prices are hindering food access for the most vulnerable. , is trying to solve food insecurity in Africa.
I believe Logan’s work provides an important empirical example of the importance of thinking bigger than yourself and how your work impacts your career. I am. Logan points out that these assumptions and ways of thinking about Africa have been reproduced through much academic research, but how the nation is treated on the international stage and how misunderstandings about them are reflected within local communities. It has a far-reaching impact on how it is ingrained in people’s thinking. their individual identities.
Thinking bigger than yourself therefore requires researchers to recognize the broader impact of their research, encourage a more thoughtful and responsible approach to academic research, and increase the broader impact it has on the global stage. is required to understand.
Similarly, Joseph Hanlon argues in his article “Power without Accountability: The World Bank and Mozambique’s Cashews” that: The idea that African governments are incapable of pursuing realistic development policies has influenced the way aid is deployed in African countries and the Global North’s choice to deploy aid to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) rather than national governments. It is said to be having an impact.
In Mozambique in the late 1980s, the oversaturation of NGOs completely stripped the state of political sovereignty and the ability to pursue economic development policies that advocated exclusively capitalism and a market economy. These ideas about African politics and economics in academic research have implications for how Africans are viewed in the world and, at times, how Africans perceive and seek to solve problems within their environments. It has been greatly shaped.
Walker’s work reminds us that in our research, we should always consider how our scholarly work impacts the perceptions of those within our communities. I believe that research is critical and empirically based, but also empathetic. Researchers need to remember and recognize that the people they speak to and represent in their scholarship are influenced by the choices they make and the facts and opinions they report. Academic institutions place researchers in spheres of power, and this position allows them to define the people and communities on which their research focuses within a larger global context.
Elinayo Adiwula Oyeladun is a second-year student studying African Studies at Trinity College. She is the director of education and outreach for the African Studies Course Coalition.