Warwick Tie Translation as an antidote to decolonisation by fetish.
This presentation begins from an observation by Glen Coulthard that processes of institutional decolonisation routinely result in recolonization. I explore how the work of translation might intervene with this. It identifies one of the mechanisms of recolonization as a fetishisation of one or other key elements of a given decolonisation programme. In the case of my own university, this occurs as the fetishisation of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, in which the idea of Te Tiriti circulates as a signifier without referent. Fetishisation is enabled by an organisational construction of a subject amenable to fetishisation, along with practices of disavowal to manage anxiety generated by the ‘terrible certainty’ with which a fetish needs be held. Translation provides a way for decolonisation to be redirected in non-fetishistic ways. The presentation explores how this might occur, using a case study again from my university. This focuses on a relation between ‘untranslatable’ elements of te reo Māori and the instrumentalist ‘mode of intention’ of contemporary English language-use. In brief, the ‘historicity of thought’ in Māori confronts the ‘loss of temporality’ of administrative English under late capitalism.
Hine Funaki-Cole Ghosts of kinship and ghosts of foe: Māori doctoral student belonging in Aotearoa universities.
Hauntings are often misconstrued as strange and often scary supernatural experiences that blur the lines between what is real and what is not. Yet, Indigenous hauntings can not only be confronting, but they can also be comforting and support place belonging. This paper offers a Māori philosophical way of theorising hauntology and its relation to time, space, place, and belonging by privileging a whakapapa perspective. Whakapapa acknowledges not only kinship relations for people, but all things and their relationship to them, from the sky to the lands, and the spiritual connections in between. Employing a whakapapa korero theoretical framework, I draw on Māori constructs of time and place through Wā, Wānanga (Māori stories both told and untold), and Te Wāhi Ngaro to offer some insights from my doctoral thesis where Māori PhD students shared their everyday experiences in their institutions. With a backdrop of settler-colonial structures, norms, and daily interactions, I argue that hauntings are an everyday familiar occurrence in Te Ao Māori which play a major role in the way Māori doctoral students establish and maintain a sense of belonging in their universities.
Alex Ker and Jennifer de Saxe Theories of whiteness and race as anchors for action
How do we connect with and actualise theory in our practices of social change? We situate this talk in critical theories of race and whiteness broadly, to demonstrate how educators might foster students’ relationship with theory as liberatory and transformative (hooks, 1994), and to embrace cognitive dissonance. We reflect on an assignment in an undergraduate sociology course where we asked students to apply theories as a framework, lens and tool to analyse an experience in their lives relating to race or ethnicity – and in turn, to better understand the theories they used as an anchor from which to continue lifelong learning. We then discuss the implications and our hopes of such a reflective practice on students’ solidarity and co-conspiratorial (Garza, 2020) work beyond their time at university.
