Critical Qualitative Inquiry: An Optimistic Counter in/to a Conservative Backslide

In this conceptual paper, we theorize possibilities for critical qualitative inquirers who work in the face of and in response to escalating authoritarian threats to democracy, academic freedom, and belonging. We explore seemingly failed methodological, pedagogical, and activist resistances that arose from our experiences as critical qualitative methodologists in states marked by oppressive conservative driven democratic backsliding. Drawing inspiration from Manning’s account of the minor, Malabou’s plasticity, and Butler’s radical interdependence, we share how new collective, creative, and clever countermoves emerged from the failure of planned resistances. Our examples exist in the space of radical hope, offering provocations for critical qualitative researchers as we (re)conceptualize and (re)enact movements toward justice amid a conservative backslide.