Conference session

This research‑in‑progress session examines a focused critical ethnographic study exploring the central question: How are white women social workers (WWSW) in Alberta, who profess a commitment to antiracism, actively disrupting white supremacy within their professional settings and broader communities? The presentation will trace how participants navigate tensions such as internal resistance, organizational barriers, and systemic constraints while attempting to move individual commitments into collective, structural, and policy‑level change. Grounded in decolonial feminism and critical whiteness studies, this research emphasizes anti‑racist praxis as embodied, relational, and continually negotiated. A key feature of the methodology is an advisory group composed of racially and ethnoculturally diverse community leaders with expertise in antiracism and decolonial organizing. Their involvement strengthens ethical decision‑making, supports relational accountability, and enhances the non‑extractive, community‑engaged nature of the research. This session will benefit social work and human service practitioners, educators, supervisors, researchers, community organizers, and others across the social sciences and humanities who are grappling with how to advance racial justice within their institutions. Participants will gain insight into the study’s emerging findings and an understanding of the advisory group model as a tool for navigating power dynamics and enhancing methodological integrity. Attendees will leave with key takeaways about: How WWSW attempt to enact antiracism across personal, professional, and community contexts. The challenges, contradictions, and learning processes inherent in anti-racist praxis. The possibilities and limits of individual commitments in contributing to organizational and structural change. How community‑engaged approaches can deepen accountability and strengthen cross‑sector strategies for racial justice.