(Dis)locating Coloniality: Lived and Digital Religious Flows across the Indian and Pacific Oceans
(Dis)locating Coloniality: Lived and Digital Religious Flows across the Indian and Pacific Oceans
This research project aims to investigate the transnational flows of religions across the Indian and Pacific Oceans, between Asia, Africa, Australia and the Pacific Islands. Historical and contemporary studies of religion in Australia have largely focused on flows of the so-called Abrahamic faiths – Christianity, Judaism and Islam – from the Global North, and on the southern states of Victoria and New South Wales. As a result, the significance of early waves of migration of diverse religious traditions from Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands, and their relations with Indigenous and European Australians, particularly in Australia’s Far North has been undervalued. This marginalisation, and the myth of a White Christian Nation, constructed by the White Australia Policy, has ongoing consequences for inter-religious relations in Australia (Chingaipe 2021; Hage 2012; Halafoff et al. forthcoming; Weng et al. 2021a; 2021b).
As part of this project, we organised a two-day workshop that centred First Nations perspectives, that brought together local and international scholars and practitioners to critically reflect on the place, presence and infusion of coloniality in historical and contemporary religious experiences, and to locate sites of resistance in lived and digital transnational lifeworlds. In particular, we are interested in transnational flows of religions across the Indian and Pacific Oceans, between Asia, Africa, Australia and the Pacific Islands. Through dialogue with scholars and practitioners, we aim to work towards (dis)locating the place of coloniality in studies of religion, and building a more inclusive future, in policies and practice.
The workshop was guided by these questions (but were not limited to):
- What are some of the challenges and critiques present in decolonial considerations in studies of religion in the Australasian context?
- Where can we see evidence of flows of religions/spirituality in lived realities across the Indian and Pacific Oceans, between Asia, Africa, Australia and the Pacific Islands?
- What role has colonisation played across the Indian and Pacific Oceans, between Asia, Africa, Australia and the Pacific Islands? How has colonial ideologies been challenged historically in these lived realities and how do they persist in practice and policy?
- Are there sites of ongoing contestations of colonial ideologies within these communities? How has the transnational flow of religions/spirituality across the Indian and Pacific Oceans shaped these communities, and their political activism and social justice actions? Does digital media play any role in these contestations?
- What do contestations between Indigenous knowledge and colonially-imported religions look like in the area of arts, music, trade and education?
Workshop Recordings
Presenters for this workshop include:
- Cullan Joyce, University of Melbourne
- Yin Paradies, Deakin University
- Victoria Grieve-Williams, RMIT University
- Anne Pattel-Gray, World Vision Australia
- Mary Graham, University of Queensland
- Tyson Yunkaporta, Deakin University
- Richard Frankland, Deakin University
- Quito Swan, Indiana University, Bloomington
- Rod Mitchell, Linguarama Italia Srl
- Duncan Wright, Australian National University
- David Irving, ICREA & IMF, CSIC, Barcelona
- Jenny McCallum, La Trobe University
- Michael Okyerefo, University of Ghana
- Dicky Sofjan, University of Gadjah Mada, Indonesia
Recordings from the workshop are available here.
Presented by Enqi Weng, William Abur and Rosie Shorter, Deakin University
Presented by Cullan Joyce, University of Melbourne, Yin Paradies, Deakin University, Victoria Grieve-Williams, RMIT University
Presented by Anne Pattel-Gray, World Vision Australia Mary Graham, University of Queensland
Presented by Tyson Yunkaporta, Deakin University and Richard Frankland, Deakin University
Presented by Quito Swan, Indiana University Bloomington, Rod Mitchell, Linguarama Italia Srl and Duncan Wright, Australian National University
Presented by David Irving, ICREA & IMF, CSIC, Barcelona and Jenny McCallum, La Trobe University
Presented by Michael Okyerefo, University of Ghana (Canada) and Dicky Sofjan, University of Gadjah Mada (Indonesia)
RESEARCH TEAM
Dr Enqi Weng (Deakin University)
Dr William Abur (University of Melbourne)
Dr Monika Winarnita (Deakin University)
A/Prof. Anna Halafoff (Deakin University)
Prof. Yin Paradies (Deakin University)
PROJECT FUNDING
This project has received seed funding support from the Alfred Deakin Institute.