In this unit, students investigate and analyse the historical impact of colonialism and how white institutional systems exercise power and produce forms of structural and cultural violence in contemporary Australia. Institutions are scrutinised as instruments of colonial power that shape ways of doing and knowing through practices of assimilation, displacement, racialisation, identity regulation, and the ongoing legacies of past policies and practice. The unit centres Indigenous experiences and voices to explore epistemic justice, focussing on Indigenous community-led healing and cultural practices that intervene to decolonise systems and drive meaningful institutional policy and practice change.
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
Identify and explain the historical and ongoing processes of colonisation and how they have shaped social systems in Victoria including child protection;
Investigate and analyse the historical and contemporary impacts of colonisation for Indigenous families and communities with attention to the social, cultural, and relational consequences of colonial policies and practices;
Critically evaluate how white institutional systems exercise and produce forms of structural, cultural and systemic violence in contemporary Australia; and
Exhibit informed insight into Indigenous community-led solutions that respond to the impacts of colonisation and strengthen community wellbeing.
Readings will be made available via VU Collaborate.
This unit is studied as part of the following course(s):