Rethinking Research: Ethics, Decolonization, and Community Empowerment

This groundbreaking volume demands a fundamental rethinking of how research is conducted with—and accountable to—communities. Moving beyond institutional compliance and procedural checklists, the work calls for an ethics grounded in responsibility, reciprocity, and knowledge sovereignty, challenging researchers to reimagine their relationships with research participants and communities. Bringing together Indigenous, Black, immigrant, and land-based perspectives, the contributors confront the colonial and extractive logics that continue to shape mainstream research ethics. They advocate for relational accountability, continuous consent, and shared decision-making as essential foundations for just and transformative scholarship. Through personal decolonization narratives, critiques of institutional ethics boards, and practical frameworks for community-led governance, this book equips scholars, community organizers, and policymakers with concrete strategies to dismantle power imbalances and foster equitable research partnerships. Essential reading for anyone committed to research as a tool for justice rather than extraction, Rethinking Research offers a radical vision of scholarship that centers community voices and collective well-being.