BLAZE MANIFESTO
Research as Resistance
We recognize that research is not neutral. Knowledge production is deeply political, shaped by histories of colonialism, racial capitalism, and power asymmetries. Our work resists these forces by centering the voices, experiences, and knowledges of those marginalized by dominant epistemologies.
Decolonial and Anti-Racist Commitments
We ground our scholarship in decolonial, anti-racist, and anti-capitalist frameworks. We reject settler colonial logics that position Indigenous knowledge as secondary or extractable. Our research is accountable to communities, not just institutions.
Ethical and Collective Praxis
It all begins with an idea. We commit to ethical research that refuses the neoliberal university’s individualist, competitive, and extractive culture. Our work is collaborative, relational, and committed to collective care. We do not exploit each other, our students, or the communities we engage with.
Abolitionist Futures
We imagine and work toward abolitionist futures—free from borders, prisons, police, and structures of surveillance. This means not only critiquing these systems but also building alternatives that foster collective liberation.
Transdisciplinary and Radical Methods
We reject disciplinary gatekeeping that upholds Eurocentric, colonial knowledge hierarchies. Our work transcends disciplines, embracing radical methodologies that challenge academic norms.
Solidarity Beyond the University
The university is not our only site of struggle. We align with movements beyond academia, recognizing that our work must serve broader liberatory struggles, not just scholarly discourse.
Refusing Neoliberal Metrics
We refuse to measure our intellectual worth through citations, rankings, or capitalist productivity metrics. Our impact is defined by how our work supports resistance, builds solidarities, and creates material change.
Building and Defending Collective Power
We are committed to strengthening labor organizing, resisting precarity, and pushing back against the corporatization of the university. Our work is inseparable from the struggle for fair and just academic labor conditions.
Dreaming Beyond the University
While we fight within and against the university, we also dare to dream beyond it. We imagine and work toward alternative spaces for radical thought, collective learning, and transformative action.