Ally Work, Decoloniality, and the Problematics of Resisting White Privilege

In Australia, Whiteness studies have led non-Indigenous scholars and professional workers to reconsider the work they do with First Nations peoples resulting in conceptualizing Whiteness as a position, as a critique, and as a resistance. Whiteness can be considered as an ethnic identity, which in itself is neither positive nor negative, but leads to a critique in which the being of White carries its unearned privilege, itself largely unseen by those benefiting from that privilege. In unmasking the privilege, and realizing and understanding the part played by the White agent in the ongoing privilege, White resistance can take several forms. Ally work is one of those forms, but it also comes with the need for reflexive critique. This chapter questions the purpose and practices of Ally work as mechanisms for resisting White privilege as it offers to act as decolonial mediator, in an attempt to arrive at the way Ally work can itself be a reconstructing force in Indigenous and non-Indigenous relationships.