ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the power and potential of research justice as a tool to democratize black feminist sociology through a community-based study of black women and the maternal healthcare crisis. Black queer and trans scholars have critiqued black feminism’s uninterrogated allegiance to binary notions of gender and have developed a queer black feminist sociology that works to reveal and dismantle the violence caused by the surveillance and policing of black non-normative genders and sexualities. The concentration of sociological expertise and methodological tools in the hands of a group of trained experts creates what is known as a “knowledge elite.” Knowledge elites typically enjoy and defend access to resources that other community members do not, from postdoctoral fellowships and academic salaries to research grants and invitations to international conferences. Collaborating with impacted communities impacted by social injustice to set research agendas, and working together to co-create every part of the research lifecycle, ensures that the time, energy, and resources.
