ANZSWWER (Australian and New Zealand Social Work and Welfare Education and Research) Symposium

Activity: Participating in or organising an eventConference/SymposiumAcademic

Description

ABSTRACT: Understanding that climate disaster responses are entangled with colonial processes, this paper speculates on social work’s capacity to dismantle settler colonial futurities. First Nation social work scholars argue that addressing the whiteness of the profession is the responsibility of all, with some rallying for decolonising and Indigenising practices. Adopting Phillips’ Indigenist Standpoint Pedagogy as our methodological framework we reflect on the Wiradjuri philosophy of Yindyamarra Winhanganha gifted to our university, to examine our positionality and the role of “White” rural social workers in relation to current disaster practices. Learning from critical Indigenous scholarship, we examine patterns of privilege constructed by cultural norms and reproduced through intersecting ideologies and complex social processes. Despite the contentious history of “helping” First Nation peoples, we question how social workers can hold onto the core values of the profession without reproducing settler colonial logics. We argue that social workers have a responsibility to consider ethical strategies for working in solidarity with First Nations peoples' aspirations and perspectives in transforming disaster practice.
Period09 Nov 202211 Nov 2022
Event typeConference
LocationMelbourne, AustraliaShow on map
Degree of RecognitionInternational

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Sciences(all)