Stealing the Master's Tools

Abstract

In an attempt to disrupt traditional paradigms of academic publishing, a decolonial initiative was forged between a group of health inequalities researchers. We began ‘Stolen Tools’, a pioneering open-access journal providing a platform for racialised minority voices. Stolen Tools aims to open up research by putting 'people before papers', and accepting authors at their ideation stage. It augments their scholarly journey by pairing them with seasoned academic mentors, presents research alongside commissioned art work, and adopts an open review process with recorded discussions between authors and reviewers. Our model envisions a more inclusive, anti-racist, and democratic academic publishing landscape where diverse narratives and epistemologies are accorded a rightful place within academic scholarship. This talk introduces our model, reflects on our progress so far, and discusses the challenges yet to come.