Dr Kathomi Gatwiri

In his chapter, Whiteness from Within” Jim Ife provides a personalised nuanced critique of whiteness. In so doing, he positions his privilege as a tool that has facilitated a powerful “voice” that has shaped social work knowledge in Australia for the last 2 decades. In sharing the power that is wielded though his whiteness, heterosexuality and masculinity, he now attempts to step aside, to fall behind, and walk in solidarity with marginalised voices to bring to the fore the different knowledges that have been silenced by discourse. This reflection focuses specifically on the concept “boundaries” which Ife argues need to be rethought due to its conflation with epistemological coloniality and white performativity. Epistemologically, professional boundaries are championed as a standard of social work practice without much critical examination of how they impact on relational practice.