Meeting Facilitators: Dr. Harini Rajagopal, Sadia Shad, and Anastasia Zhuravleva
In this (online) meeting of the LLED Antiracist Caucuses, we will focus on peer reviewing from an antiracist perspective. By engaging in this discussion about peer reviewing, we hope to understand and reflect on (a) how do we engage in the reciprocal practice of scholarly reviewing as novice or established academics from an antiracist perspective; (b) issues of epistemic violence; and (c) some action-oriented steps to become reflexive and antiracist peer reviewers.
Stimulus text: Please read the following paper before our meeting on May 28th from 2:00 to 3:30 PM.
- de Souza, R. (n.d.). Peer Reviewing, Epistemic Violence, and “Reflexive Mentorship” (approx. 5-min read)
Optional stimulus text:
Please explore the following documents before our meeting, if you have time:
- Anti-racist scholarly reviewing practices: A heuristic for editors, reviewers, and authors. (2021). Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/reviewheuristic.
- Brković, Č. (2022). “Thinking with” when peer reviewing: Introduction to the PoLAR online emergent conversation on peer review. Political and Legal Anthropology Review, 45(1), 112-118. https://doi.org/10.1111/plar.12482
For an example of typical journal peer review instructions, see following video and consider how it reflects (or not) the antiracist ideas we are discussing:
- How to Conduct a Peer Review (10:43 min watch): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLONnz4AzsY
Discussion Questions:
- If comfortable, please share an experience (positive/negative/anywhere in between) with peer-reviewing – whether as a reviewer or a reviewee – in connection with this meeting’s topic.
- Take a moment to reflect on some reviewing criteria and expectations that you have encountered at conferences or in journals. What are some generative antiracist criteria (or ways of doing) we can adapt or introduce?
- What are some actionable ways we as a community can open the doors and “leav[e] [them] wide open for others to walk through” (following de Souza, n.d., para. 8)?