Our commitment at this time of continuing struggle against oppression and structural inequalities

Abstract

To “the fierce urgency of now” (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., ‘I Have a Dream’ speech at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963) As we continue to confront crises, turmoil, and struggles for justice around the globe, the editors of Mind, Culture, and Activity (MCA) share the following statement. This statement is motivated by an acknowledgment of the depth of the global crises we face, a realization that now is not the time for “business as usual,” and a commitment to radical changes required at all levels of our current practices, including on the editorial collective of MCA, and on affiliated forums such as XMCA and the Cultural Praxis website (http://culturalpraxis.net/). This realization is the fruit of our engagement with a larger community of scholars, including colleagues involved in the Re-generating CHAT collective, whose insights, work, and activism have inspired us. MCA stands in opposition to racial terror, systemic, state-sanctioned violence, and the devastations of economic imperialism. Although this journal and its affiliates were launched with a commitment to scholarship in the interests of social justice and equity, we want to reignite and regenerate this commitment with a strong focus on the need to fight against all forms of oppression including structural racism, classism, sexism, fascism, ableism, imperialism, and legacies of colonialism. Inspired by progressive social movements around the globe, such as Black Lives Matter, La Via Campesina, democratic movements in Hong Kong, youth-led climate strikes, and teacher strikes, we acknowledge that scholarship and associated practices and discourse are not politically neutral and that a generative movement forward is only possible with explicit attention to structural inequalities. This generative movement requires the participation of members and activists of historically oppressed groups. We hold ourselves accountable for redressing existing imbalances and injustices in our own disciplines and institutional practices. As the first order of the day, we acknowledge that our current collective of editors does not have enough diversity of expertise or experience to fulfill these commitments. We recognize that we have not yet contributed enough to dismantling the practices of privilege that mediate individual and collective development and shape our journal and forums. We have, therefore, adopted the following action items: