1st Edition

Settler Responsibility for Decolonisation Stories from the Field

Edited By Susan Nemec, Billie Lythberg, Christine Woods Copyright 2025
    232 Pages 2 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    This edited collection presents perspectives from a range of disciplines on the challenges of dismantling coloniality in settler societies. 

    Showcasing a variety of pedagogies and case studies, the book offers approaches to the praxis of decolonisation in diverse settings including tertiary education, activism, arts curatorial practice, the media, trans-Indigeneity and psychosocial therapy. Chapters centre on the personal, relational, and political work needed to support decolonisation in settler societies in Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, the United States, and Canada. Drawing from experiences in the field, contributors argue that to decolonise research and build authentic relationships with Indigenous communities, settler researchers must learn from Indigenous worldviews without appropriating them, disrupt colonial epistemologies, and reconcile their place in colonialism. Indigenising is discussed as a counterpart to the decolonisation process, involving restoring and centring the Indigenous voice within Indigenised socio-cultural, economic, legal, and political structures and institutions, including the return of land. 

    The book is a rich resource for researchers seeking to understand and support decolonisation in settler societies, and will appeal to non-Indigenous scholars, students and those involved in decolonisation work in community and institutional settings.

     

    List of contributors

    Preface

    Introduction

    Section One

     

    Chapter 1:  Making space at the institutional table: Co-work and risk in the colonial university

             Sarah Maddison

    Chapter 2:  So, are you Indigenous?’: Settler responsibilities when teaching Indigenous Australian Studies

              Holly Randell-Moon

    Chapter 3: ‘It’s complicated’: Reflections on Teaching Citizenship in Aotearoa - New Zealand

    Sharon McLennan, Giles Dodson, Ella Kahu, Carol Neill and Richard Shaw             

    Chapter 4: Indigenous Peer Learning in a Digital Third Space

                Christine Woods and Billie Lythberg

    Chapter 5:  Remembering and repositioning episodes of historical violence between settlers and Indigenous people

    Liana MacDonald (Ngāti Kuia, Rangitāne o Wairau, Ngāti Koata)

    Section Two

    Chapter 6:  Tau(gh)t relationships and fraught responsibilities: (de)colonisation practices in new non-Māori adult learners of te reo, the Māori language

              Michelle O’Toole

     

    Chapter 7:  Humility as Hulihia: Settler Co-Conspiring at Mauna Kea and Beyond

            Leanne Day and Rebecca H. Hogue

     

    Chapter 8: S is for Settler: A Psychosocial Perspective on Belonging and Unbelonging in Aotearoa-New Zealand

            

                Keith Tudor

     

    Chapter 9: ‘Critical White Settler Projects as an intergenerational responsibility: Activating decolonial co-resistance in the cultural sector’

           Leah Decter and Carla Taunton

     

    Chapter 10:  The extent of Indigenous Media’s role in building new migrant narratives of decolonization.

            Susan Nemec

     

    Chapter 11: Thinking about Pacific relational space, along-side and in the presence of tāngata whenua in Aotearoa-New Zealand.

              Tina (A.-Chr.) Engels-Schwarzpaul

     

    Index

     

    Biography

    Billie Lythberg is of Swedish, Scottish, and English descent. She is a Senior Lecturer in Organisation Studies at The University of Auckland, and an affiliated researcher of Vā Moana – Pacific Spaces, working on multiple projects for the Royal Society of New Zealand with Māori and Moana colleagues, including the Marsden-funded project this book developed out of. She publishes extensively in print and online; curates and critiques exhibitions; and develops documentaries for broadcast television.

    Christine Woods is the Theresa Gattung Chair for Women in Entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland's Faculty of Business & Economics. She also directs the Aotearoa Centre for Enterprising Women and teaches courses on Women and Entrepreneurship to undergraduate and MBA students. Her research interests include women and entrepreneurship, SME and family business, social entrepreneurship, Māori entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurship education. Chris is part of The ICEHOUSE Business Growth Programmes' directing team and mentors several women who have recently started businesses. She is also on the board of several businesses and is a founding director of Māori Maps.

    Susan Nemec is a research associate at the University of Auckland. Her research interests are multifaceted, weaving together various threads to explore contemporary social dynamics. Her interests include how gender dynamics shape entrepreneurial endeavours and the intricate relationship between media representation and cross-cultural understanding. Susan's research provides a nuanced and interdisciplinary understanding of identity, representation, and power dynamics in contemporary society, contributing to both academic scholarship and broader societal discussions.