Brought to you by DERAIL (Diversity, Equity, Race, Accessibility, and Identity in LIS)
March 3 & 4, 2018
On behalf of DERAIL:
The Diversity, Equity, Race, Accessibility, and Identity in LIS (DERAIL) Forum upholds the essential role of combating white supremacy and oppressive power structures in LIS institutions and pedagogy. We seek to create a productive and mindful space to explore the impacts of social justice frameworks in guiding our work as students and practitioners.
We recognize that our LIS institutions, including our graduate programs, are embedded within racist, ableist and heteropatriarchal power structures and perpetuate these same inequalities. We also recognize that this is not inevitable and that we must amplify our own voices to be heard by administrations and institutions that uncritically support the privileging of white supremacist perspectives in information environments, including but not limited to archives, libraries and museums. We acknowledge that we have vested power as practitioners in upholding or challenging oppressive power structures in our interactions with the public and within our institutions.
DERAIL stands in solidarity with students in higher education across the country who are organizing to combat oppressive curriculum and treatment. We believe in the radical potential of library and information science to facilitate meaningful discussions of the interlocking roles of race, sexuality, ability, gender and class in the maintenance of oppressive conditions in LIS.