Women of Color in Collaboration and Conflict

Claudia Lopez
Sociology
UC Santa Cruz

This project extended the legacy of the UC Research Cluster for the Study of Women of Color in Collaboration and Conflict at UCSC. In 2016-2017, doctoral students from across three campuses (UCSC, UCD, UCB) collaborated to co-author a journal on the theme of witnessing and testimony as a decolonial feminist methodology. This collaboration across disciplines and backgrounds allowed the working group to build upon its members’ diverse experiences and training as we deeply examined the nexus of identity, subjectivity, violence, conflict and collaboration. The working group focused on developing collaborative work that impacted the academic performance of graduate women of color and made visible their lived experiences, thus challenging the erasure of women of color and scholars in academia. Given the increased attention to women of color in current social movements across the nation, these research endeavors are necessary personal and political projects.