Introduction

‘Theory’ is a word that has many connotations. Sometimes ‘theory’ is seen as detached, removed from the everyday, as in ‘That might work in theory but not in practice’. In academe, ‘theory’ is usually assumed to relate to weighty, conceptual matters that are complicated and even frightening. Critical Race Theory (CRT) challenges mainstream conventions and assumptions in numerous ways. The approach puts race and racism at the heart of its analysis, and rejects conventional assumptions about what counts as knowledge and how research should be conducted–because traditional approaches have been shaped by, and serve to reinforce, existing racial biases. As Ladson-Billings describe, CRT emerged from the struggles of people of color, working and studying in US law schools, who found their concerns anti-racism sidelined and shouted down.