Inclusive, yes, but into violent relations (on violence against Indigenous women): Debbie Bargallie, Bronwyn Carlson, ‘Performing inclusion: How settler institutions regulate Indigenous women through epistemic violence’, in Asher Flynn, Freya McLachlan Kyllie Cripps, Jacqui True (eds), Eliminating Violence Against Women: A Handbook for the Indo-Pacific Region, De Gruyter, 2026, pp. 277-290 | settler colonial studies blog

Inclusive, yes, but into violent relations (on violence against Indigenous women): Debbie Bargallie, Bronwyn Carlson, ‘Performing inclusion: How settler institutions regulate Indigenous women through epistemic violence’, in Asher Flynn, Freya McLachlan Kyllie Cripps, Jacqui True (eds), Eliminating Violence Against Women: A Handbook for the Indo-Pacific Region, De Gruyter, 2026, pp. 277-290

11Oct26

Abstract: This chapter argues that violence against Indigenous women extends beyond interpersonal or physical harm to encompass institutional and epistemic forms of violence embedded within settler-colonial systems. Through empirical insights from the Stay in Your Lane and Make Us Count projects, we reveal how universities, funding bodies, and workplaces reproduce colonial hierarchies under the guise of inclusion. Drawing on Spivak’s concept of epistemic violence and Fricker’s theory of epistemic injustice, we examine how Indigenous women’s knowledge, leadership, and authority are systematically devalued, appropriated, or erased. We show that diversity initiatives often operate through interest convergence, granting inclusion only when it benefits white institutions and that citation, authorship, and research funding structures serve as regulatory mechanisms of epistemic control. Racial literacy is advanced as a critical intervention: a praxis for diagnosing and disrupting institutional racism and for centring Indigenous sovereignty, knowledge, and leadership. We conclude that eliminating violence against Indigenous women in professional contexts demands structural transformation not symbolic inclusion—requiring a redistribution of power, recognition of Indigenous epistemic authority.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Closed