Dr Zuleyka Zevallos

How does a White woman academic get published on decolonising sociology without critical engagement with the concepts of race & racism - let alone reflecting deeply and critically with her own Whiteness and how her career has benefited from racial inequality baked into academia?

Only a coloniser mindset would present the works of Other women in such a way as to lay a claim to decolonising a field that Black, Brown and other minority/ people of colour have fought since before the foundation of academia to break down and continue to do so alone.

To see examples of my culture cited in a reductionist way that evokes Indigenous struggle ("a narrative of conquest") as cursory example of the exotic past written by conquistadors - static - but without understanding race relations in Peru or Latin America. Othering

Have you ever counted how many senior Indigenous & other women of colour sociologists exist in Australia? I have. Take a moment to guess about the extent to which the struggles we face in our careers are understood, supported or even given a second thought by senior White women

Now think about why White women do not incorporate critical race theory into their research, teaching and practice. Why White women sociologists think they are above race, "not racist" and yet ignore Talkin' Up to the White Woman while they claim to be decolonising sociology.

And consider why White sociologists keep giving one another awards, take up keynotes and panels, and exclusively citing White sociologists' appropriation of postcolonialism but never take proactive steps to inclusion & intersectionality of Indigenous & other #WOC scholars in AUS.

Finally: there's a reason why sociologists of colour position our scholarship - especially on race - with reference to our race and culture. Race is not something we can switch off. Race is not an abstract idea with vague recommendations. We know race is structural inequality