Contradiction and Critical Consciousness: Engaging Canadian University Students in Racial Dialogue on Anti-Chinese Racism

Authors

• Dan Cui, Brock UniversityFollow

Keywords

anti-Chinese racism; racialized habitus; racial dialogue; pandemic; transnationalism; whiteness; race; social justice; higher education

Special Issue

Special Issue Summer 2026

Abstract

This study examines how Canadian university students perceived and engaged with anti-Chinese racism during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on grounded theory and interviews and written reflections from 28 undergraduates at a predominantly White university, the study analyzes students’ contradictory understandings of racism shaped by media, national narratives, and prior educational experiences. Informed by Bourdieu’s concept of habitus, it conceptualizes these tensions as a contradictory racialized habitus, in which awareness and denial, empathy and distancing, coexist. Three themes emerged: contradictory orientations toward anti-Chinese racism, the transnational influence of U.S. political discourse, and the limited transformative impact of a social justice course. The findings show that while such courses can raise awareness, their effects are often partial and unstable. The study highlights the persistence of racialized dispositions and underscores the need for sustained, program-wide approaches to anti-racist education in higher education.

Abstract - Translated

摘要

本研究探讨了加拿大大学生在新冠疫情期间如何理解并回应针对华裔群体的反华种族主义。基于扎根理论方法，并结合一所白人占多数大学的28名本科生的访谈资料和书面反思，本文分析了学生在媒体话语、国家叙事及既有教育经历共同影响下所形成的对种族主义的矛盾认知。借鉴布迪厄的惯习理论，本文提出“矛盾的种族化惯习”这一概念（contradictory racialized habitus），以解释这些内在矛盾，即对种族主义的认知与否认、共情与疏离等看似对立的倾向同时并存。研究归纳出三个主题：（1）学生对反华种族主义的矛盾取向；（2）美国政治话语的跨国影响；以及（3）社会正义课程有限的转化作用。研究发现，尽管社会正义课程能够提升学生对种族主义的认知，但其教育效果往往具有局部性和不稳定性。本文揭示了种族化惯习的持续性，并强调高等教育需要采取持续性、系统化的反种族主义教育策略，以促进更深层次和更持久的思想转化和社会变革。

Recommended Citation

Cui, Dan (2026) "Contradiction and Critical Consciousness: Engaging Canadian University Students in Racial Dialogue on Anti-Chinese Racism," Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education: Vol. 18: No. 4, Article 15.
DOI: 10.64899/2151-0407.1929
Available at: https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/jcihe/vol18/iss4/15

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