In this chapter, we intend to explore the social processes involved in constructing a research topic as invalid and the role of affect in these processes. Taking research policy in the context of higher education as our field, and research from critical race theory 1 as our example, we study the discursive limits and conditions for research on the location of non-Western researchers in Swedish higher education, and on racial discrimination. We also address the dominant discourses that are activated when research using the concept of race is presented and discussed in public.