14.png
14.png

Citation As A Praxis of Justice: Tracing Your Scholarly Ancestors

$0.00

Citations are more than academic housekeeping—they shape whose voices get heard, which legacies are uplifted, and how knowledge is legitimized. Citation As A Praxis of Justice invites scholars, students, and activists to reimagine referencing not as a formality, but as an ethical practice that honors our theoretical ancestors and furthers collective liberation. Together, we’ll investigate how to trace our “family trees” of scholarship, center marginalized contributions, and recognize who has paved the way for our current intellectual pursuits. By practicing mindful citation, participants learn to build genealogies of influence that foreground justice, relationship, and gratitude within their work.

Citations are more than academic housekeeping—they shape whose voices get heard, which legacies are uplifted, and how knowledge is legitimized. Citation As A Praxis of Justice invites scholars, students, and activists to reimagine referencing not as a formality, but as an ethical practice that honors our theoretical ancestors and furthers collective liberation. Together, we’ll investigate how to trace our “family trees” of scholarship, center marginalized contributions, and recognize who has paved the way for our current intellectual pursuits. By practicing mindful citation, participants learn to build genealogies of influence that foreground justice, relationship, and gratitude within their work.

Key Focus Areas

  1. Reimagining Citation

    • Understand how traditional citation formats can either perpetuate or disrupt Eurocentric, patriarchal norms of knowledge validation.

  2. Mapping Your Scholarly Legacy

    • Learn practical methods for uncovering the lineage of ideas that shape your work, acknowledging forebears who are often erased or sidelined.

  3. Ethics of Naming & Honoring

    • Explore how to center overlooked voices—such as Black, Indigenous, POC, queer, or activist scholars—in your citations, ensuring their rightful place in academic discourse.

Who Should Attend

  • Faculty & Graduate Students
    Seeking to adopt anti-colonial and community-centered approaches to literature reviews, theses, and publications.

  • Researchers & Librarians
    Interested in challenging exclusive citation traditions by consciously elevating minoritized narratives and knowledge systems.

  • DEI & Equity Teams
    Looking to encourage inclusive referencing practices across departments, curricula, and institutional libraries.

  • Activist-Scholars & Writers
    Eager to integrate social justice commitments into their reference frameworks, ensuring that each citation is a choice that fosters community accountability.

Learning Objectives

  1. Examine Citation Politics

    • Identify how normalized referencing structures can perpetuate exclusionary or elitist norms, particularly in fields shaped by Euro-American narratives.

  2. Trace Theoretical Ancestors

    • Practice methods—like genealogical mapping or narrative reviews—that situate your research in a broader, justice-oriented knowledge legacy.

  3. Implement Justice-Centered Citation

    • Develop strategies (e.g., citation diversity statements, annotated bibliographies, collaborative reference-building) that uplift and honor marginalized scholars and traditions.

Why It Matters

When citation is treated as a perfunctory requirement, we risk erasing the foundational labor of historically excluded voices. By reclaiming citation as a praxis of justice, we acknowledge how each reference we choose or omit actively shapes whose ideas endure and evolve. Naming our theoretical ancestors expands beyond personal intellectual growth—it breathes life into the legacies that inform and fortify collective transformation. Through an equity-based lens, citation becomes an act of gratitude, community-building, and collaborative truth-telling.

Is This Workshop for You?

  • Concerned about replicating narrow citation patterns that favor predominantly white, male authors?
    We’ll show you how to conduct deeper lit reviews, discovering underrecognized scholars who deeply inform your field.

  • Wishing your references reflected a genuine genealogy of critical, interdisciplinary, and culturally diverse thought?
    Learn practical techniques for building bibliographies that map out your intellectual “family tree.”

  • Looking for ways to credit community-based knowledge and activism in your academic or professional outputs?
    We’ll explore ways to legitimize grassroots research, oral histories, and communal wisdom within formal referencing systems.

  • Ready to highlight your commitments to intersectionality and anti-colonial perspectives at the citation level?
    Gain sample language for publication disclaimers, departmental guidelines, or class policies that promote inclusive reference practices.

If these prompts resonate, Citation As A Praxis of Justice offers both the philosophical grounding and tangible skills to ensure your scholarly legacy reflects community care, historical continuity, and justice-driven values.