‘It’s Always Best to Sort of Speak Up, But…’ Silence and the (Im)possibility of Resistance to Racist Reactions to ‘Affirmative Action’ in a University Context
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21728128 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lucy Cowie (0000-0001-7912-5591, University of Auckland), Braun (0000-0002-3435-091X, University of Auckland, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Publication date | 2025-08-20 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Policy Futures in Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1478-2103 • E-ISSN: 1478-2103 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/14782103251370294 |
| OpenAlex | W4413355494 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 32 |
Programmes designed to support Indigenous (Māori) and marginalised (Pasifika) students to participate and succeed at (our) university are well-established, yet continue to meet challenge and resistance. As supporters and a participant in these programmes, we wanted to explore the possibility of speaking up and against (racist) resistance to programmes designed to make the university a more equitable and inclusive space. We sought to explore how those who supported such programmes would engage with, and respond to – or not – expressions of racist resistance. We aimed to find answers and solutions, strategies to melt resistance away. We used a qualitative interview design within a critical realist theoretical position and heavily informed by Kaupapa Māori research principles. Twenty participants were recruited carefully, and analysis used reflexive thematic analysis. Our first theme captured a strong moral imperative to challenge opposition to equity programmes, with silence representing complicity and a failed moral duty to improve the world. Theme two discussed anti-equity sentiment as harmful, particularly to Māori and Pasifika students. Theme three focused on emotion: anger was rendered a justified yet unhelpful emotion to express in discussions of equity programmes, while rationality was positioned as positive and useful. Theme four centred around futility, with participants suggesting responding to anti-equity expressions as highly unlikely to be successful, even if tackled ‘calmly’ and ‘rationally’. Students articulated a complex, fraught, and even impossible position in relation to speaking up, and challenging racist resistance. Given the impossibility of being a ‘speaking subject’ who can effectively challenge racism, participants felt the university needed to ‘lead from above’ to create a space and place in which resistance to such social-justice-based initiatives was not articulable
Aesthetics · Affirmative action · Epistemology · Media studies · Racism · Silence · Sociology · sort · Anthropology · Computer Science · Critical Race Theory in Education · Gender Studies · History · Philosophy · Race, History, and American Society · Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
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| Highly cited | No |
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