What is the Value of Value Neutrality? Exploring the Tension Between Objective Scholarship and Activist Scholarship

In recent decades there has been an increase in activist scholarship, a specific type of work where scholars seek to generate knowledge and pedagogies that aim to solve issues of inequality through political change. The emergence of activist scholarship poses a challenge to the long-standing ideal of value neutral scholarship and, as a result, universities and academics are grappling with these competing visions of scholarship. Complete value neutrality within scholarship is impossible yet remains a desirable ideal. But in seeking value neutrality the voices of those who have been historically undermined should not have their thoughts dismissed simply because their work might be classified as too activist. This paper argues, after careful engagement with social science literature, that activist scholarship has a place within academia, but only if people are ready to discuss and engage in constructive discourse. The paper concludes by acknowledging the inherent politicization of academia in today’s society and argues for a nuanced approach that recognizes the role of activism within scholarly discourse with a focus on using factual information in conjunction with constructive dialogue that allows all perspectives to be heard.