The Politics of Radical Research: A Manifesto
Summary
- At what and whose cost do we engage in research?
- What right do I have to engage in this research work?
- What if I refused to participate?
Key Insights
-
•
Researchers benefit from and simultaneously reproduce harmful systems, requiring deep self-awareness and accountability.
-
•
Empathy should be the baseline foundation of research, not the ultimate goal, because it cannot fully capture lived experience.
-
•
Centering marginalized people’s lived experiences must avoid appropriating or ‘stealing’ their stories.
-
•
Monetary compensation alone is insufficient; research should embody reciprocity, care, and generous ethical compensation.
-
•
Time is a weaponized, commodified social construct that contributes to extractive research practices for both researchers and participants.
-
•
Research is often treated like a mining operation, but humans must not be commodified as mining resources.
-
•
Researchers must differentiate between their right to engage versus feelings of entitlement and constantly reflect on access and privilege.
-
•
Trauma should not be treated as a prerequisite or ‘rite of passage’ for research participation, nor a justification for tokenism.
-
•
Researcher agency includes the power to choose to refuse participation or alter modes of engagement ethically.
-
•
Harm is inevitable in complex systems; acknowledging caused harm and repairing relationships is a critical ethical responsibility.
Notable Quotes
"The true focus of revolutionary change is never merely the oppressive situation but rather that piece of the oppressor that lives in all of us."
"Empathy is really just the floor, not the ceiling; it cannot replace someone's actual lived experience."
"If you walk in someone else’s shoes, then you’ve taken their shoes."
"Please do not engage in mining; research is not a mining operation."
"What role does time play as a form of currency in contributing to extractive methods of research?"
"We must distinguish between right and entitlement when engaging in research and acknowledge the responsibility that accompanies privilege."
"Does communal proximity guarantee the right to engage in research? This is a complicated question without easy answers."
"Trauma should not be reduced to a right of passage that justifies participation in research."
"Choosing to remain silent is still a choice; agency means owning how and if you participate."
"Are you able to say I caused harm, and can you repair the relationships and impacts your work has created?"
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"We changed the culture by changing the language, introducing common terms like hypotheses and experiments."
Monty HammontreeThe Future of UX Research
December 3, 2020
"The hustle does suck, and Gen Z is doing this other thing over here, arranging in healthier ways."
Deanna ZandtThe Unspoken Complexity of “Self-Care” with Deanna Zandt
July 21, 2022
"Even the best-designed public-facing tools need operational and policy support to succeed."
Shanti Mathew Natalie Sims Natalia RadywylCivic Design at Scale: Introducing the Public Policy Layer Cake
December 9, 2021
"Sometimes democratized research happens in silence, with little coordination, causing duplicated efforts."
Kathleen AsjesResearch Democratization: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
March 10, 2022
"You have to start with users, not the data, and force prioritization to avoid dashboard overload."
Theresa NeilJust Build Me a Dashboard!
April 9, 2019
"The hardest part is acting on feedback, which requires integrating tools and aligning multiple teams like research, product, marketing, and customer success."
Aleksandra Korczynska Caroline Jarrett Justyna ParmeeSurvey Tools
March 12, 2026
"I’m ADHD. I’ve never spoken so publicly about this before."
Jessica NorrisADHD: A DesignOps Superpower
September 9, 2022
"Human-centered design is not just about your end users, it’s about the humans in your team."
Gretchen AndersonScaling the Human Center
June 8, 2017
"John Paul showcases how a small firm leveraged automation and human-centric approaches to boost consistency and employee wellbeing."
Frances YllanaTheme 2 Intro
September 24, 2024
