Call for Book Chapters: Global Perspectives on Anti-Racism and Anti-Colonial Library Management Practices

Call for Book Chapters

Global Perspectives on Anti-Racism and Anti-Colonial Library Management Practices

Editors

• Allan Cho, University of British Columbia (UBC) Library
• Silvia Vong, Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Libraries

Important Dates

• Proposals due: July 28, 2023
• Review period: August 2023
• Notifications of Acceptance: August 25, 2023
• The first draft of the chapters is due: on December 29, 2023
• Review period/feedback: March 29, 2024
• The second draft of the chapters is due: on July 1, 2024
• Review period/minor revisions: August 1, 2024
• Final Manuscript submission: September 1, 2024
• Target publication date: six months after submission (by editors) of the final manuscript

Background

This book is signed with Facet Publishing and is based on the perspectives and experiences of different practicing librarians, researchers, and educators worldwide, who engage with anti-racist and anti-colonial practices in library and information science (LIS). The book draws on Dei’s meaning of anti-racism and anti-colonialism. Anti-racism moves away from the “preoccupation with individual prejudices and discriminatory actions to the examination of the ways in which racist ideas and individual actions are entrenched and unconsciously supported in institutional structures” (Dei, 1995, p. 13). Anti-colonialism is resistance and counters to dominant Western and Eurocentric thought and practice. George Dei (2006) writes, “Anti-colonial thought is about a ‘decolonizing of the mind’ working with resistant knowledge and claiming the power of local subjects’ intellectual agency” (p. 11). Both of these terms refer to some form of critical action. It is important to note that Sara Ahmed (2012) identifies in On Being Included that institutions and management are largely performative in addressing racism and whiteness in higher education. The editors recognize that management may have historical roots and connections in problematic ideologies and practices. However, rather than focus on talking about the problems, this book focuses on critiquing and offering redress for institutional policies, procedures, and practices that reinforce racist or colonial ideologies that impact underrepresented and/or equity-deserving groups. For that reason, the editors are seeking chapter proposals that move away from common performative practice (e.g., statement writing, document reporting, re-branding) and more towards practical action and changes in library settings.

Global perspectives mean that an effort to ensure a range of perspectives from different countries are included to examine issues of racism and colonialism and its impact on the library as a workplace. The intention is to ensure that different experiences are represented to avoid essentializing or assuming what anti-racism and/or anti-colonial practices look like in different contexts. Through a critical lens that may include postcolonial theory, Critical Race Theory, Critical Race Feminism, etc., Methods that the editors have experience reviewing are qualitative studies that include interviews, surveys, autoethnography, and case studies. In addition, some works may be a literature review, or conceptual. If submitting a proposal and chapter that uses autoethnography, please include details about research ethics, data, data collection, and writing approach.

• Ahmed, S. (2012). On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life. Duke University Press.
• Sefa Dei, G. J., & Kempf, A. (2006). Anti-Colonialism and Education: The Politics of Resistance. Sense Publishers.
• Dei, G. J. S. (1995). Integrative Anti-Racism: Intersection of Race, Class, and Gender. Race, Gender & Class, 2(3), 11–30. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41674706

Objectives

• Present perspectives and experiences of different practicing librarians, researchers, and educators across the world, who engage with anti-racist and/or anti-colonial leaders and/or management practices in LIS
• Examine the dynamically shifting role between anti-racism and anti-colonialism and library institutions in the context of managing people, information, and collections
• Bringing awareness and exploring actions managers can take to redress racist or colonial structures and practices.

Target Audience

• Library practitioners, activists, managers, leaders, etc. interested in engaging in anti-racist and anti-colonial practices
• The content should be aimed at librarians ready to learn and act to support anti-racism and anti-colonial efforts.

Potential Topics

• Addressing Colonial Practices in Governance or Organizational Structures in Libraries
• Decolonizing Leadership and Management
• Truth and Redress of Colonial Histories/Connections in Institutions
• Management through a Critical Race Theory or Postcolonial Theory lens
• Decentering Whiteness in Libraries
• Cultural Taxation in the Profession
• Anti-racism in the Library Workplace
• Laws, and Policies

We are also open to suggestions on topics about anti-racism or anti-colonial practices. Proposals should include references to academic sources.

Please send the following to Editors.GlobalPerspectives@gmail.com by July 28, 2023:

• Name(s)
• Job Title(s)
• Institution(s)
• Section of interest and a 500-word description of the proposed book chapter
• Please indicate the topic, method, and main point(s) clearly
• Research involving human participants, including autoethnographies should indicate whether a research ethics or institutional research board approval.
• References list (APA style)
• A 250-word bio of the author or authors

Facet Publishing is a leading publisher of books for the information, knowledge and heritage sectors. They publish for a wide range of readers including students, practitioners, educators and researchers, bringing cutting-edge research, practical tools and guidance and thought leadership to the global community.

Bamboo Ceiling Reframed: The Impact of Social Practices in Management on Asian Library Managers

---

It was such a pleasure to moderate a session featuring my friend and role model librarian, Silvia Vong.   Silvia and I are conducting a research project and it has been an eye-opening working with such a talented individual.   As the Associate Chief Librarian for Scholarly, Research and Creative Activities at Toronto Metropolitan University in Toronto, Silvia has worked in universities for over a decade.  She's completing her Ph.D. research which focuses on the impact of neoliberal conventions and managerialism on equity and anti-racism work in Canadian universities. Silvia draws on the works of Critical Race Theory scholars, Postcolonial Theory, and Bourdieu to examine issues in librarianship.   Her talk is based on a chapter that is published in Libraries as Dysfunctional Organizations and Workplaces.  

In 2005, Jane Hyun, a management consultant, wrote a book titled Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling: Career Strategies for Asians. Though the text was intended to “introduce” Asians to dominant management practices and workplace culture, the text was problematic in that it essentialized Asians, reiterated deficit narratives, and narratives of the “other.” In an effort to add another perspective to the issue of the lack of representation, Silvia's research was designed with a structuralist approach. Rather than blame or point to a group, the study focused on examining social and organizational barriers through a Bourdieusian and Critical Race Theory lens to identify how dominant structures exclude, reward assimilation, and build into a system, of invisible or taken-for-granted rules.   The talk's presentation slides on Bamboo Ceiling Reframed are here.