Many consider academic research an important means to address societal inequality of marginalized groups, such as refugees. However, transformative research arguably requires critically engaged practices that consider and transform dominant exclusive structures permeating both society and knowledge production. This paper discusses challenges and opportunities of such research practices, especially given power and (neoliberal) politics around knowledge production within Dutch academic and refugee research structures. Based on 14 researchers’ narratives, the results reveal how critically engaged refugee research is challenged by its marginalized position, academic pressures and culture as well as the recently emerged ‘refugee research business’. However, the paper also uncovers various ways in which researchers manoeuvre within challenging and facilitating structures by operating outside or in the margins of academic structures, making use of facilitating spaces and strategically employing dominant discourses. Finally, researchers arguably transform academic structures by challenging dominant research paradigms and transforming the institution of academics itself.

许多人认为学术研究是解决难民等边缘化群体的社会不平等问题的重要手段。然而，变革性研究可以说需要批判性参与的实践，这些实践考虑并改变渗透到社会和知识生产的主导性排他性结构。本文讨论了此类研究实践的挑战和机遇，特别是考虑到荷兰学术和难民研究结构内围绕知识生产的权力和（新自由主义）政治。根据 14 位研究人员的叙述，结果揭示了批判性参与的难民研究如何受到其边缘地位、学术压力和文化以及最近出现的“难民研究业务”的挑战。然而，该论文还揭示了研究人员通过在学术结构之外或边缘开展活动、利用便利空间和战略性地使用主导话语，在具有挑战性和便利性的结构中进行操作的各种方式。最后，研究人员可以通过挑战主导研究范式和改变学术机构本身来改变学术结构。