The Truth Will Set You Free? The Promises and Pitfalls of Truth‐Telling for Indigenous Emancipation
First Nations in Australia are beginning to grapple with processes of treaty‐making with state governments and territories. As these processes gain momentum, truth‐telling has become a central tenet of imagining Indigenous emancipation and the possibility of transforming relationships between Indige...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:6f0d911456d64a4090cae9829d99b43c 2023-07-16T03:58:28+02:00 The Truth Will Set You Free? The Promises and Pitfalls of Truth‐Telling for Indigenous Emancipation Sarah Maddison Julia Hurst Archie Thomas 2023-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v11i2.6491 https://doaj.org/article/6f0d911456d64a4090cae9829d99b43c EN eng Cogitatio https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/6491 https://doaj.org/toc/2183-2803 2183-2803 doi:10.17645/si.v11i2.6491 https://doaj.org/article/6f0d911456d64a4090cae9829d99b43c Social Inclusion, Vol 11, Iss 2, Pp 212-222 (2023) australia canada indigenous–settler relations reconciliation truth and justice truth and reconciliation truth commissions truth‐telling Sociology (General) HM401-1281 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v11i2.6491 2023-06-25T00:36:16Z First Nations in Australia are beginning to grapple with processes of treaty‐making with state governments and territories. As these processes gain momentum, truth‐telling has become a central tenet of imagining Indigenous emancipation and the possibility of transforming relationships between Indigenous and settler peoples. Truth, it is suggested, will enable changed ways of knowing what and who “Australia” is. These dynamics assume that truth‐telling will benefit all people, but will truth be enough to compel change and provide an emancipated future for Indigenous people? This article reports on Australian truth‐telling processes in Victoria, and draws on two sets of extant literature to understand the lessons and outcomes of international experience that provide crucial insights for these processes—that on truth‐telling commissions broadly, and that focusing specifically on a comparable settler colonial state process, the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The article presents a circumspect assessment of the possibilities for Indigenous emancipation that might emerge through truth‐telling from our perspective as a team of Indigenous and non‐Indigenous critical scholars. We first consider the normative approach that sees truth‐telling as a potentially flawed but worthwhile process imbued with possibility, able to contribute to rethinking and changing Indigenous–settler relations. We then consider the more critical views that see truth‐telling as rehabilitative of the settler colonial state and obscuring ongoing colonial injustices. Bringing this analysis into conversation with contemporary debate on truth‐telling in Australia, we advocate for the simultaneous adoption of both normative and critical perspectives to truth‐telling as a possible way forward for understanding the contradictions, opportunities, and tensions that truth‐telling implies. Article in Journal/Newspaper First Nations Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Canada Social Inclusion 11 2 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
australia canada indigenous–settler relations reconciliation truth and justice truth and reconciliation truth commissions truth‐telling Sociology (General) HM401-1281 |
spellingShingle |
australia canada indigenous–settler relations reconciliation truth and justice truth and reconciliation truth commissions truth‐telling Sociology (General) HM401-1281 Sarah Maddison Julia Hurst Archie Thomas The Truth Will Set You Free? The Promises and Pitfalls of Truth‐Telling for Indigenous Emancipation |
topic_facet |
australia canada indigenous–settler relations reconciliation truth and justice truth and reconciliation truth commissions truth‐telling Sociology (General) HM401-1281 |
description |
First Nations in Australia are beginning to grapple with processes of treaty‐making with state governments and territories. As these processes gain momentum, truth‐telling has become a central tenet of imagining Indigenous emancipation and the possibility of transforming relationships between Indigenous and settler peoples. Truth, it is suggested, will enable changed ways of knowing what and who “Australia” is. These dynamics assume that truth‐telling will benefit all people, but will truth be enough to compel change and provide an emancipated future for Indigenous people? This article reports on Australian truth‐telling processes in Victoria, and draws on two sets of extant literature to understand the lessons and outcomes of international experience that provide crucial insights for these processes—that on truth‐telling commissions broadly, and that focusing specifically on a comparable settler colonial state process, the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The article presents a circumspect assessment of the possibilities for Indigenous emancipation that might emerge through truth‐telling from our perspective as a team of Indigenous and non‐Indigenous critical scholars. We first consider the normative approach that sees truth‐telling as a potentially flawed but worthwhile process imbued with possibility, able to contribute to rethinking and changing Indigenous–settler relations. We then consider the more critical views that see truth‐telling as rehabilitative of the settler colonial state and obscuring ongoing colonial injustices. Bringing this analysis into conversation with contemporary debate on truth‐telling in Australia, we advocate for the simultaneous adoption of both normative and critical perspectives to truth‐telling as a possible way forward for understanding the contradictions, opportunities, and tensions that truth‐telling implies. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sarah Maddison Julia Hurst Archie Thomas |
author_facet |
Sarah Maddison Julia Hurst Archie Thomas |
author_sort |
Sarah Maddison |
title |
The Truth Will Set You Free? The Promises and Pitfalls of Truth‐Telling for Indigenous Emancipation |
title_short |
The Truth Will Set You Free? The Promises and Pitfalls of Truth‐Telling for Indigenous Emancipation |
title_full |
The Truth Will Set You Free? The Promises and Pitfalls of Truth‐Telling for Indigenous Emancipation |
title_fullStr |
The Truth Will Set You Free? The Promises and Pitfalls of Truth‐Telling for Indigenous Emancipation |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Truth Will Set You Free? The Promises and Pitfalls of Truth‐Telling for Indigenous Emancipation |
title_sort |
truth will set you free? the promises and pitfalls of truth‐telling for indigenous emancipation |
publisher |
Cogitatio |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v11i2.6491 https://doaj.org/article/6f0d911456d64a4090cae9829d99b43c |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
First Nations |
genre_facet |
First Nations |
op_source |
Social Inclusion, Vol 11, Iss 2, Pp 212-222 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/6491 https://doaj.org/toc/2183-2803 2183-2803 doi:10.17645/si.v11i2.6491 https://doaj.org/article/6f0d911456d64a4090cae9829d99b43c |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v11i2.6491 |
container_title |
Social Inclusion |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
2 |
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1771545593353601024 |