TASA MEM Conversations About... 'Decolonising Methodologies'

“When indigenous people become the researchers and not merely the researched, the activity of research is transformed. Questions are framed differently, priorities are ranked differently, problems are defined differently, people participate on different terms. (Smith 1999, p. 193)

In 1999, Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s ground-breaking book ‘Decolonising Methodologies’ presented a ‘counter-story’ of research, challenging the white, European imperial and colonial structures that are fundamentally ingrained in dominant research methodologies and practises. The privileging of Western ‘ways of knowing’ undermines and excludes the knowledge, ideologies and experiences of indigenous and/or marginalised communities and populations. More than 20 years later, researchers continue to debate ‘best practises’ for decolonising social theory and social research. As PhD and ECR’s engaged in sociological research, we must be aware of how our research design, execution and analysis may privilege Western ‘ways of knowing’ and the harm that this could have on the participants and communities that we collaborate with. In this MEM Conversations About panel, we bring together 4 BIWOC (Black, Indigenous and Women of Colour) researchers to discuss their perspectives in relation to these contemporary debates. The panel will detail their experiences of ‘decolonising methodologies’ using their own research in the migration, ethnicity and/or multiculturalism space to situate the discussion. The aim of this panel is to unpack and unsettle the research process, and to critically engage in conversations about the pervasiveness of Eurocentric imperial and colonial structures within our ontological, epistemological and theoretical approaches.

About our panellists:

Dr Virginia Mapedzahama

Virginia Mapedzahama (PhD, Sociology) is a critical race black feminist researcher whose research focuses on understanding the social construction of all categories of difference: meanings attached to this difference, how it is signified and lived as well as its implications for those assigned difference. She explores this interest in the context of subjective experiences of migration, diaspora, blackness, race, racism and ethnicity, sexuality and gendered violence. Her expertise includes new African diaspora in Australia, race and ethnicity, cross-cultural identities, black subjectivities, hybridity, African feminisms, African women diaspora, violence against women and intersectionality.

Dr Vanessa Lee

Vanessa Lee, from the Yupungathiand Meriam Nation, resides on the land of the Gadigal people. She is a social epidemiologist, poet, cultural connectorand public health/ health sciences researcher within the discipline of Behavioural and Social Sciences, in the Faculty of Medicine and Health. Her research focuses includes Indigenous peoples, and the LGBT populations, health and wellness. Vanessa is one of the founding members of the Australian Indigenous data sovereignty network https://www.maiamnayriwingara.org/who-we-are

Dr Ruth Faleolo

Dr. Ruth (Lute) Faleolo, is a New Zealand-born Tongan, Australian-based Pasifika researcher of Pacific peoples’ migration histories, trans-Pacific mobilities, collective agencies, and multi-sited Pacific e-cultivation of cultural heritage. Her background is in education and social sciences. Ruth’s recent research presents interdisciplinary understandings drawn from a mixed methods study of Trans-Tasman Pasifika well-being perspectives and experiences in Auckland and Brisbane (2015-2020). Ruth’s current post-doctoral study considers Pacific mobilities to and through Australia, and supports a larger study: ARC DP200103269 Indigenous mobilities to and through Australia: Agency and Sovereignties (2020-2023).

Dr Sunshine Kamaloni

Dr. Sunshine Kamaloni is a writer, advocate and researcher whose research interests centre around cultural anxieties about race and bridging the gap between theory and lived experience. Sunshine’s book Understanding Racism in a Post-racial World (2019) explores the interactions of race and bodies in everyday situations. Her consultancy work supports women leaders develop real and embodied engagement with racial diversity and inclusion in the DE&I space.