Storying Black life: A critical race narrative methodology for social research on health and well-being

Narrative inquiry can illuminate health and health inequalities, but public health research often lacks sustained critical engagement with race and racism. This presentation introduces a critical race narrative methodology as a multi-phase approach to reflexive inquiry into race, racism and health. Grounded in critical race theory, it explains the methodology’s epistemological commitments and phases through research on structural racism and Black women’s access to HIV services in Toronto. It also examines methodological tensions involved in advancing race consciousness within narrative inquiry.