Jotería critical race hypotheticals: advancing Bell’s racial hypotheticals as critical qualitative and pedagogical praxis for Queer and Trans Latinxs

Critical race qualitative research in education continues advancing methodological and pedagogical tools to affirm lived experiences and epistemologies of Communities of Color. Returning to the legal tradition of critical race research, this article examines racial hypothetical pedagogy emerged as dialogic praxis that elicits conversation through speculative narratives on contested matters, such as race. Derrick Bell’s seminal racial hypothetical The Space Traders exemplifies this pedagogy, yielding intersectional and race-conscious approaches to dialogic learning. Building on Bell’s legacy, this article expands the utility of racial hypotheticals by centering Queer and Trans Latinx (Jotería) knowledge in dialogic learning, qualitative inquiry, and theorization. This article introduces Jotería Critical Race Hypotheticals as a qualitative and pedagogical instrument designed to surface complex counterstories that normative methods do not accomplish. Grounded in an empirical study with Queer and Trans Transfronterizx Latinxs students, this article traces epistemological formations and relational effects generated by a Jotería Critical Race Hypothetical.