16 Race at Work within Social Policy
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Zuleyka Zevallos
Abstract
The Australian social policy sector maintains inequality through an unequal distribution of resources and power across society, as well as via its internal organization. Policy makers reinforce hierarchies that centre economic efficiency while undervaluing unpaid work and giving white men entitlements not afforded to white women and minorities, such as the ability to work free from harassment. Public service reproduces gender, race and class inequalities through formal practices, such as recruitment and promotions, and informal interactions, such as when minorities are sanctioned for speaking up about unfair treatment. Racial minority women are expected to share their knowledge and skills in unpaid work (such as volunteering in equity and diversity initiatives), but this difference is neither respected nor rewarded. This chapter explores the ways in which anti-racism work is suppressed in public policy contexts. I reflect on my experiences as a Latin migrant woman of colour who has worked across local, state and federal government research teams informing public policy and decision-making. I analyse how my unpaid contributions to policies and procedures are sanitized, the resistance I face when incorporating race into applied research for policy and public audiences, and the consequences for my wellbeing and safety. I end with a reflection on my work as a public sociologist doing racial education, and the ways in which this volunteering both mirrors and resists my professional experiences.
Abstract
The Australian social policy sector maintains inequality through an unequal distribution of resources and power across society, as well as via its internal organization. Policy makers reinforce hierarchies that centre economic efficiency while undervaluing unpaid work and giving white men entitlements not afforded to white women and minorities, such as the ability to work free from harassment. Public service reproduces gender, race and class inequalities through formal practices, such as recruitment and promotions, and informal interactions, such as when minorities are sanctioned for speaking up about unfair treatment. Racial minority women are expected to share their knowledge and skills in unpaid work (such as volunteering in equity and diversity initiatives), but this difference is neither respected nor rewarded. This chapter explores the ways in which anti-racism work is suppressed in public policy contexts. I reflect on my experiences as a Latin migrant woman of colour who has worked across local, state and federal government research teams informing public policy and decision-making. I analyse how my unpaid contributions to policies and procedures are sanitized, the resistance I face when incorporating race into applied research for policy and public audiences, and the consequences for my wellbeing and safety. I end with a reflection on my work as a public sociologist doing racial education, and the ways in which this volunteering both mirrors and resists my professional experiences.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Series Editors’ Preface vii
- List of Figures and Tables ix
- Notes on Contributors x
- Foreword xvii
- Acknowledgements xxi
- Introduction: Articulating a Critical Racial and Decolonial Liberatory Imperative for Our Times 1
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Going beyond ‘Decolonize the Curriculum’
- Being Woke to Anti-Intellectualism: Indigenous Resistance and Futures 13
- Decolonizing Australian Universities: Why Embedding Indigenous Content in the Curriculum Fails That Task 32
- Let’s Get Critical: Thinking with and beyond the ‘Dead White Men’ of Social Theory 49
- (De)constituting Settler Subjects: A Retrospective Critical Race-Decolonizing Account 62
-
Being in the Classroom
- Shedding the Colonial Skin and Digging Deep as Decolonial Praxis 79
- Racially Literate Teacher Education: (Im)possibilities for Disrupting the Racial Silence 93
- In Conversation with Helena Liu: Redeeming Leadership – a Project of Critical Hope 111
- The Provocateur as Decolonial Praxis 123
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Doing Race in the Disciplines
- Decolonizing the Curriculum in the Colonial Debtscape 137
- Race-ing the Law 152
- Assembling Decolonial Anti-Racist Praxis from the Margins: Reflections from Critical Community Psychology 164
- Unravelling the Model Minority Myth and Breaking the Racial Silence: A Collaborative Critical Auto-Ethnography 178
- Counter-Storytelling as Critical Praxis 190
-
Building Critical Racial and Decolonial Literacies beyond the Academy
- Incantation: Insurgent Texts as Decolonial Feminist Praxis 205
- Race at Work within Social Policy 227
- ‘The Sole Source of Truth’: Harnessing the Power of the Spoken Word through Indigenous Community Radio 246
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Resistance, Solidarity, Survival
- Death Can Be Clarifying: Considering the Forces That Move Us 261
- In Conversation with Yassir Morsi: Slow Ontology as Resistance 276
- Teaching Race, Conceptualizing Solidarity 290
- In Conversation with Alana Lentin: Racial Literacy – an Act of Solidarity 305
- Teacher/Decolonizer 317
- Index 322
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Series Editors’ Preface vii
- List of Figures and Tables ix
- Notes on Contributors x
- Foreword xvii
- Acknowledgements xxi
- Introduction: Articulating a Critical Racial and Decolonial Liberatory Imperative for Our Times 1
-
Going beyond ‘Decolonize the Curriculum’
- Being Woke to Anti-Intellectualism: Indigenous Resistance and Futures 13
- Decolonizing Australian Universities: Why Embedding Indigenous Content in the Curriculum Fails That Task 32
- Let’s Get Critical: Thinking with and beyond the ‘Dead White Men’ of Social Theory 49
- (De)constituting Settler Subjects: A Retrospective Critical Race-Decolonizing Account 62
-
Being in the Classroom
- Shedding the Colonial Skin and Digging Deep as Decolonial Praxis 79
- Racially Literate Teacher Education: (Im)possibilities for Disrupting the Racial Silence 93
- In Conversation with Helena Liu: Redeeming Leadership – a Project of Critical Hope 111
- The Provocateur as Decolonial Praxis 123
-
Doing Race in the Disciplines
- Decolonizing the Curriculum in the Colonial Debtscape 137
- Race-ing the Law 152
- Assembling Decolonial Anti-Racist Praxis from the Margins: Reflections from Critical Community Psychology 164
- Unravelling the Model Minority Myth and Breaking the Racial Silence: A Collaborative Critical Auto-Ethnography 178
- Counter-Storytelling as Critical Praxis 190
-
Building Critical Racial and Decolonial Literacies beyond the Academy
- Incantation: Insurgent Texts as Decolonial Feminist Praxis 205
- Race at Work within Social Policy 227
- ‘The Sole Source of Truth’: Harnessing the Power of the Spoken Word through Indigenous Community Radio 246
-
Resistance, Solidarity, Survival
- Death Can Be Clarifying: Considering the Forces That Move Us 261
- In Conversation with Yassir Morsi: Slow Ontology as Resistance 276
- Teaching Race, Conceptualizing Solidarity 290
- In Conversation with Alana Lentin: Racial Literacy – an Act of Solidarity 305
- Teacher/Decolonizer 317
- Index 322
