Diversifying and Decolonising Institutions

Conventional research and practice have been instigated, to a large extent, through the lens of Westernised and industrialised worldviews. Not only has this resulted in the exclusion of certain aspects of history, culture, and ecology from scholarship, or deemed particular types of knowledge as less scientific; arguably, it can also perpetuate invisible biases and inequalities, under the guise of rationality. In this workshop, we will discuss (i) the dominance of Western worldviews in academia and industry (or what Dr. Vandana Shiva [2014] has referred to as monocultures of the mind); (ii) how diverse ways of knowing can be part of the formula for sustainability and equality; and, (iii) the types of social, cultural, economic, and political processes that are essential to the revitalisation, resurgence, and sovereignty for voices and traditions that have been historically overshadowed. This session will include guest presentations by residential school survivor Lila Bruyere, along with Indigenous scholar, activist, and political leader Jessica Keeshig-Martin.