Centering Race: Critical Race Theory and Its Methodological Implications

Since its conception in the United States legal field, critical race theory has been applied widely across several disciplines, including the social sciences. This paper reflects on the methodological implications of using critical race theory as a theoretical lens in political science. Scholars have argued that through social science methodologies, the empirical claims of critical race theory can be explored and supported by data. However, coming from a tradition of ‘objective’ or ‘neutral’ research, social science methodologies might not be adept at bringing in a critical theoretical perspective that emphasizes how knowledge is situated and strives for racial equity. At the same time, critical race theory has increasingly been under attack both in and outside academia. These developments produce a challenging political and academic context for researchers with different positionalities to engage with the framework of critical race theory. In this paper, we discuss the challenges involved in applying a critical race theoretical lens and the adaptations to classic political science methodologies it entails. Drawing on fieldwork in both the United States and European continental context, we show how different tenets of critical race theory can be used as analytical tools to qualitatively explore empirical data on politics and policies related to migrants and minorities. Although there is some work on methodologies informed by critical race theory in educational sciences and the compatibility of critical race theory with quantitative methods of analysis, little work has been done so far to look at how critical race theory can be used as a lens to inform qualitative empirical studies in the field of political science. We argue that taking up the lens of critical race theory requires the use of reflexive methodologies that bring in experiential knowledge and storytelling. In this way, methodologies informed by critical race theory promote a more central positioning of the researcher and people of colour inside the research process. As such, the framework of critical race theory allows for the inclusion of voices of systemically marginalized groups usually left out of the analysis and for their experiences to define theory and praxis in the field of political science. Thereby the paper contributes to the development of critical race theory in political science and points to how it can be used in future studies.