Implications of Situated Solidarity Building for Rethinking the Geopolitics of Higher Education

With an emphasis on border crossing, bridging divides and fostering more ethical and meaningful partnerships at all levels, situated solidarity building holds significance for expanding conversations on rethinking the geopolitics of higher education. To build situated solidarities, researchers must explore how geographical, political, and socio-institutional factors impact context and relationships through reflexivity (Nagar & Geiger, 2007). By engaging in situated solidarity building, researchers have the potential to disrupt traditional hierarchies of knowledge production and reshape academic fields through collaborative knowledge creation with research participants (Nagar, 2014).
The objective of this webinar is to identify and analyze processes that support the formation of situated solidarities. This analysis is based on findings from the fieldwork of a community development research project with diasporic women which used situated solidarity building to explore issues pertaining to life as an immigrant and immigrants’ knowledge of Indigenous peoples and reconciliation in Canada. This webinar will delve into the formation of situated solidarities in the research project and examine their outcomes and implications. The discussion will cover lessons learned, challenges faced, and key recommendations for the future development of research, partnerships, and initiatives between academia and the community.