Transformative Visions for Qualitative Inquiry

Transformative Visions for Qualitative Inquiry takes as its central theme the idea of transformation, transformative action, transformative possibilities, and potentialities for the future for qualitative inquiry. In a present moment defined by a pandemic of meanings over COVID-19, climate change, political upheaval, inequality, and oppression of all kinds, contributors to this volume seek a new way forward--to reimagine a post-pandemic pedagogy of hope and compassion both for qualitative research and for the communities in which we inhabit. Empathy. Healing. Collaboration. Survival. Discomfort. Protection. Justice. Creative agency. The arts. These are the watchwords for the road ahead.

In these uncertain times, leading international scholars from the United States, Canada, and Australia look ahead with a renewed sense of hope, but remain grounded in the reality that much work lies ahead--that our inquiry must meet the demands of our hopeful but evolving future. More specifically, contributors focus on such topics as: academic healing; environmental justice; the hegemony of higher education and challenges to critical education; arts-based research such as songwriting, participatory workshops, and autopoetics; disruptions to conventional humanist and Western modes of thought; and questions of empathy and spirit-writing.

Transformative Visions for Qualitative Inquiry is a must-read for faculty and students alike who are interested in imagining new ways to restore healing from the pandemic--to push back, resist, heal, share, laugh, and live.

Norman K. Denzin is Emeritus Professor of Communications, Sociology, and the Humanities, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and Founding Director of the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry.

Michael D. Giardina is Professor of Physical Culture and Qualitative Inquiry at Florida State University, and Director of the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry.