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|\n\nKakali Bhattacharya, Kansas State University  \nAbstract  \nIn this paper, I explore the ways in which post-oppositional theorizing can be used to bridge between qualitative inquiry and praxis to address issues of inequities in education. I present an overview of how oppositional thinking has been privileged in academia creating an ontological trapping, with subsequent drainage of our energies and efforts. I offer post-oppositional onto-epistemologies as an invitation to examine our wounds, deeply held belief systems, and understand their manifestations forms while using a critical, post-oppositional lens. Thus, I advocate for cultivating conditions via post-oppositionality that would create onto-epistemic shifts in our scholarly activist work in education. Critical inquiry using post-opppositionality allows for imaginations and enactments of possibilities (without demonizing oppositional discourses), that affect the lives of those who suffer from the networked effects of various social structures of oppression in education.  \nKeywords: post-opposition, onto-epistemology, nepantlera, social justice  \nThe concept of inquiry within the educational landscape has been intersected by positivist, postpositivist, critical, and deconstructive approaches over several decades. Yet, somehow, critical problems in education are addressed in fragmented ways. There are those who work in theoretical, pragmatic, and methodological spaces, and the conversations between/across all three spaces are minimal, yet necessary to activate, especially within the context of critical inquiry (Darder, Baltodano, & Torres, 2009) . Perhaps such gaps are indications of training and/or career preferences, however, the inequities that exist in education need the collective talent, intelligence, commitment, and partnership of educational scholars, leaders, and practitioners for not only challenging status quo of dominant hegemonic discourses, but creating possibilities of an equitable future through situated, contextualized, fierce truth telling.1 While on one hand critical and deconstructive scholars have opened up spaces with their critiques, and rightfully so, on the other hand such critiques have caused a paralysis of what needs to be done on the ground at a material level while putting theory to work.  \nOver the last decade, there has been methodological debates about what truth claims can be made, who should make those claims, what putting theory to work might look like, and what methodological moves are considered simplistic while discourse about evidence-based inquiry gained traction in all areas of education including funding, evaluation, and accountability  \n1. Aaron Kuntz (2015) discusses the role of the qualitative researcher where he unpacks truth telling versus bullshitting.  \n(Bhattacharya, 2014; Bloch, 2004; Cannella & Lincoln, 2004; Koro-Ljungberg, 2004; Pearl & Knight, 2010) . These discussions have created several academic camps that are in opposition to one another, and while such oppositions can be fruitful for academic dialogues and interrogation of idea, one truth that cannot be denied is that there is an incredible amount of human suffering within educational spaces due to the ways in which social structures of oppression are enacted in these spaces. In other words, even if the subaltern cannot speak (Chakravorty Spivak, 1993) , the subaltern still suffers, whether or not such suffering could be diligently, transparently, and accurately addressed.  \nFraming and Orientation of this Paper  \nIn this paper, I use post-oppositional theorizing that informs the ways in which qualitative inquiry can be brought to bear on issues of educational inequities, while moving away from methodological paralysis to bridging theory, inquiry, and praxis. I make some truth claims, which are not absolute, but are presented as anchors that I have drop","cbCain8nfj0mQRZJ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCain8nfj0mQRZJ","pdf",527456,18,"English","# Abstract\n# Framing and Orientation of this Paper\n## Bridging theory, inquiry, and praxis\n## Truth claims and critical engagement","[{\"question\":\"What does the paper aim to bridge in educational research and practice?\",\"answer\":\"It bridges qualitative inquiry and praxis by using post-oppositional theorizing to address inequities in education.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the paper critique oppositional thinking in academia?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that oppositional thinking has been privileged in academia in ways that create ontological trapping, drain energy, and contribute to paralysis on the ground.\"},{\"question\":\"What role do “anchors” and critical inquiry play in the author’s approach?\",\"answer\":\"The author drops non-absolute “truth claims” as personal anchors for bridgework grounded in post-oppositional onto-epistemology, and treats critiques as necessary for strengthening claims without inducing fear of making truth claims.\"}]","Dropping My Anchor Here - A Post-Oppositional Approach to Social Justice Work in Education | PDF",1792089408,45]