Beyond decolonization: Anticolonial methodologies for indigenous futurity in psychological research.

Abstract

For research psychologists to be proponents of Indigenous futures, it requires that we resist settler colonialism in our knowledge production – a distinct form of colonization that eliminates Indigenous peoples from the land to construct a permanent settler society (Wolfe, 2006). One modern elimination strategy is epistemic violence, which is violence enacted against Indigenous Knowledges and/or Indigenous peoples via knowledge (Galván-Álvarez, 2010). In psychology, epistemic violence occurs through psycolonization, and poses a formidable threat to Indigenous futures. Consequently, psychologists must engage in research that opposes and dismantles settler colonial knowledge structures that delegitimize Indigenous Knowledges and perpetuate harm against Indigenous peoples. While decolonizing methodologies have been proposed as a means of combating epistemic violence, very rarely does psychological research result in decolonial outcomes (i.e., the repatriation of Indigenous land and life). We propose anticolonialism as an alternative to decolonization that challenges epistemic violence and forges a path for more equitable Indigenous futures through psychology. Drawing from instances of Indigenous resistance to settler colonialism, we outline principles for engaging in anticolonial research that foregrounds Indigenous self-determination via theory and action. We apply these principles to a resilience curriculum for suicide prevention that was implemented by elders from the White Mountain Apache Tribe and supported by researchers at Johns Hopkins University as an example of anticolonial research (Cwik et al., 2019). We conclude with recommendations for pursuing anticolonial methodologies for Indigenous futurity in psychology.

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