Book chapter
There is No Such Thing as a Blank Slate: Accountability in decolonising universities
The Routledge Handbook of Australian Indigenous Peoples and Futures, pp.103-123
Routledge, 1
2023
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Abstract
This chapter is not meant to be comfortable to read or 'sit-with'. Its purpose is to critique, expose, challenge, reframe and assist with decolonising spaces, along with framing and creating new spaces-the development of new, sustainable a-colonial systems, utilising Indigenous Knowledge Paradigms (IKPs) and Indigenous Knowledge Systems. The issue we find with Westernisation is that non-Indigenous people continually expect us to come up with the answer to the problems they intentionally create and recreate daily. They expect us to come (gratefully) with the panacea to their woes, to present this panacea in a way that is 'nice', 'polite', 'comfortable' and as assimilated as possible-so that they understand it and are not discomforted by it. We grow weary of hearing that they have no culture, no labels (such as White), and no written text on their identities-thus referring to themselves as a 'clean slate' (personal communication, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017). It is impossible not to have some imprint about colonisation or First Nations peoples; instead, we suggest that non-Indigenous peoples have had the privilege of choosing when and if they engage with the conversations and issues. This chapter turns this table upside down and clearly identifies the work, responsibility and accountability that begins with each and every one of us.
Details
- Title
- There is No Such Thing as a Blank Slate
- Creators
- Kelly MenzelBindi Bennett
- Publication Details
- The Routledge Handbook of Australian Indigenous Peoples and Futures, pp.103-123
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Edition
- 1
- Identifiers
- 991013134160802368
- Academic Unit
- Gnibi College of Indigenous Australian Peoples
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Book chapter