Abstract

This article argues that academic manuscript review is a site for activism, using Anzaldúa’s theory of conocimiento as a framework to contextualize the reviewer’s role in this process. It demonstrates that conocimiento provides a structure for engaging in the manuscript-review process in a way that mediates among potentially conflicting worldviews. Conocimiento informs more justice-oriented reviewing and positions the anonymous reviewer as activist. This article explores each stage of conocimiento and anonymous review through multifaceted methods: storytelling, theory, and a synthesis of the two. It ends by presenting concrete, action-based takeaways for reviewers who want to approach reviewing justly and equitably.