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Decolonizing Solidarity: Dilemmas and Directions for Supporters of Indigenous Struggles
In this highly original and much-needed book, Clare Land interrogates the often fraught endeavours of activists from colonial backgrounds seeking to be politically supportive of Indigenous struggles. Blending key theoretical and practical questions, Land argues that the predominant impulses which drive middle-class settler activists to support Indigenous people cannot lead to successful alliances and meaningful social change unless they are significantly transformed through a process of both public political action and critical self-reflection.
Based on a wealth of in-depth, original research, and focussing in particular on Australia, where - despite strident challenges - the vestiges of British law and cultural power have restrained the nation's emergence out of colonizing dynamics, Decolonizing Solidarity provides a vital resource for those involved in Indigenous activism and scholarship.
338 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 15, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 1, 2021
A must read for ani non-Indigenous person involved in Indigenous activism. It is rare to find a book which will make you question every aspect of your practice, and I strongly recommend it to any NI activist, especially those in Australia.
February 9, 2017
For many of us who try to pay attention to developments in social and political theory, one of the most interesting strands to emerge in recent years is the notion of intersectionality, in part, the idea that we may have many different ways of being (relationship specific identities, for want of a better description) all of which are always present in any action we take. Intersectionality is a way past ‘choosing’ or emphasising one way of being in favour of the more complex messy lives that we live and ways that we exist in the world. As interesting as this emerging discussion is (and it is really intriguing, as well as very valuable), I have been much more interested in the parallel recent discussion of the meaning of solidarity. That of course might well be because I am a fairly well off, White, middle aged bloke with a fair amount of cultural capital (academic, a couple of post graduate degrees, fairly well paid and so forth), where my principal political work centres on support for workers and indigenous, anti-colonial struggles, shaped by an outlook that sees the most oppressed as the best suited to lead those struggles. So, as far from the most oppressed, the politics of solidarity are important to my political and my academic work.
Clare Land’s Decolonizing Solidarity is a very important contribution to that understanding, and is essential reading for solidarity movement activists working alongside and with other people’s struggles. Land has many years’ experience working in and with indigenous peoples in south-east Australia, and brought that experience to her scholarly work that provides part of the base for this book. Other aspects of the base include her ongoing activist work, advice and input from those she seeks to support, and interviews and discussions with other solidarity activists: there is a multitude of voices invoked in the investigation, voices that are essential to understand the multiplicity of forms and types of solidarity.
Alongside the significance of ‘solidarity’ in the title, ‘decolonizing’ in some ways presents a bigger challenge. For many, an especially those of us with a degree of privilege, there is a recognition of the importance of ‘diversity’ – we seek diverse social networks and communities; in schools we set out to diversify the curriculum; in healthcare we seek culturally sensitive forms of service provision. The list goes on. For many post- and anti-colonial/imperial activists and analysts however the goal is not liberal diversification but a more profound decolonization – where we recognize, act on and overturn the historical colonial relations and attitudes and outlooks that flow from them, disrupting and reforming ways of being and understanding. It is a more abstract concept, but for me it often comes back to book title by an Indian historian – a collection of essays by Dipesh Chakrabarty, Provincializing Europe . Now, if Europe is one of many global provinces, and not the ‘centre of the world’ its cultural significance becomes different, as do the views of the world and the people in that world spawned and sustained by/sustaining European cultural power.
In solidarity movements and activism, this question of decolonization presents a specific challenge, centred on the politics of who gets to choose and who gets to determine what are the goals, forms and shapes of the struggles question. In indigenous solidarity this often takes a more challenging aspect, where those indigenous struggles relate directly to the life-world and circumstances of non-indigenous, newcomers many of whom are engaging in solidarity activism: to step back, to allow indigenous peoples to lead and shape those struggles when they directly affect the everyday life of non-indigenous supporters is a big ask, and brings this issue of decolonization right home into the banality of the everyday.
It is this challenge that is at the core of this book and that sees Land explore demanding issues, such as complicity in colonial oppression and relations, the challenges of labelling and identity categories – both indigenous and non-indigenous, the meanings and significance of collaboration, dialogue and friendship. A vital element of her exploration is the self-understanding of solidarity activists and what it means to act in a self-aware manner, to know how, where and with what effect that self-awareness influences, shapes and determines (or at least powerfully influences) political action. All this means that the moral and political framework she develops for solidarity activism includes difficult questions about motivation (and a clear critique of the desire to ‘help’ – this is a question of decolonization, after all). Much of the discussion is not as stark as this may sound – ‘dilemma’ is a recurring notion in her analysis and exploration, especially the dilemmas involved in de- and re-constructing issues, interests and consequently power dynamics. While this might sound big and demanding, Land has a light touch: she deals with specificities and lets her activists’ drive the discussions making excellent use of their own words.
Not surprisingly, she sees the most promising outlook and approach as being rooted in a motivation that is “trying to undo the system that does oppressive work on all/most of us, but most particularly and obviously along the axis of Indigeneity” (p215). This driver requires that activists have a clearly articulated theory of colonisation and its effects – it being colonisation that created Indigeneity. This is a marker of the openness of the case being made, a case that solidarity activists stand alongside or behind indigenous peoples, but also that these principles apply also to other forms of solidarity politics. The book concludes not with a discussion of Indigeneity but of solidarity with international development struggles, refugee groups, anti-colonial activism (focussing on pro-Palestinian activism) and LGBTQI support activism. That is to say, decolonizing solidarity with indigenous struggles should also reshape other forms of solidarity.
The importance of this book is two-fold. First, it demands that we reconceptualise how we do solidarity activism and our understanding of indigenous struggles (it sits for alongside and complements Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s Decolonising Methodologies and Max Haiven and Alex Khasnabish’s The Radical Imagination: Social movement research in the age of austerity in doing so). Second, takes us deep into solidarity activism in a specific context, using insider activist voices from both the solidarity and indigenous activists – and uses that context and those voices in such a way that the integrity of that specificity is retained but also that we are able to transfer the case to other settings, both indigenous and non-indigenous struggles. This is essential reading for solidarity activists and vital if we are to develop ways to develop effective and meaningful affinity politics in the context of these developing intersectional analyses and an increasingly hostile global élite desperate to defend their power, and its sources.
Clare Land’s Decolonizing Solidarity is a very important contribution to that understanding, and is essential reading for solidarity movement activists working alongside and with other people’s struggles. Land has many years’ experience working in and with indigenous peoples in south-east Australia, and brought that experience to her scholarly work that provides part of the base for this book. Other aspects of the base include her ongoing activist work, advice and input from those she seeks to support, and interviews and discussions with other solidarity activists: there is a multitude of voices invoked in the investigation, voices that are essential to understand the multiplicity of forms and types of solidarity.
Alongside the significance of ‘solidarity’ in the title, ‘decolonizing’ in some ways presents a bigger challenge. For many, an especially those of us with a degree of privilege, there is a recognition of the importance of ‘diversity’ – we seek diverse social networks and communities; in schools we set out to diversify the curriculum; in healthcare we seek culturally sensitive forms of service provision. The list goes on. For many post- and anti-colonial/imperial activists and analysts however the goal is not liberal diversification but a more profound decolonization – where we recognize, act on and overturn the historical colonial relations and attitudes and outlooks that flow from them, disrupting and reforming ways of being and understanding. It is a more abstract concept, but for me it often comes back to book title by an Indian historian – a collection of essays by Dipesh Chakrabarty, Provincializing Europe . Now, if Europe is one of many global provinces, and not the ‘centre of the world’ its cultural significance becomes different, as do the views of the world and the people in that world spawned and sustained by/sustaining European cultural power.
In solidarity movements and activism, this question of decolonization presents a specific challenge, centred on the politics of who gets to choose and who gets to determine what are the goals, forms and shapes of the struggles question. In indigenous solidarity this often takes a more challenging aspect, where those indigenous struggles relate directly to the life-world and circumstances of non-indigenous, newcomers many of whom are engaging in solidarity activism: to step back, to allow indigenous peoples to lead and shape those struggles when they directly affect the everyday life of non-indigenous supporters is a big ask, and brings this issue of decolonization right home into the banality of the everyday.
It is this challenge that is at the core of this book and that sees Land explore demanding issues, such as complicity in colonial oppression and relations, the challenges of labelling and identity categories – both indigenous and non-indigenous, the meanings and significance of collaboration, dialogue and friendship. A vital element of her exploration is the self-understanding of solidarity activists and what it means to act in a self-aware manner, to know how, where and with what effect that self-awareness influences, shapes and determines (or at least powerfully influences) political action. All this means that the moral and political framework she develops for solidarity activism includes difficult questions about motivation (and a clear critique of the desire to ‘help’ – this is a question of decolonization, after all). Much of the discussion is not as stark as this may sound – ‘dilemma’ is a recurring notion in her analysis and exploration, especially the dilemmas involved in de- and re-constructing issues, interests and consequently power dynamics. While this might sound big and demanding, Land has a light touch: she deals with specificities and lets her activists’ drive the discussions making excellent use of their own words.
Not surprisingly, she sees the most promising outlook and approach as being rooted in a motivation that is “trying to undo the system that does oppressive work on all/most of us, but most particularly and obviously along the axis of Indigeneity” (p215). This driver requires that activists have a clearly articulated theory of colonisation and its effects – it being colonisation that created Indigeneity. This is a marker of the openness of the case being made, a case that solidarity activists stand alongside or behind indigenous peoples, but also that these principles apply also to other forms of solidarity politics. The book concludes not with a discussion of Indigeneity but of solidarity with international development struggles, refugee groups, anti-colonial activism (focussing on pro-Palestinian activism) and LGBTQI support activism. That is to say, decolonizing solidarity with indigenous struggles should also reshape other forms of solidarity.
The importance of this book is two-fold. First, it demands that we reconceptualise how we do solidarity activism and our understanding of indigenous struggles (it sits for alongside and complements Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s Decolonising Methodologies and Max Haiven and Alex Khasnabish’s The Radical Imagination: Social movement research in the age of austerity in doing so). Second, takes us deep into solidarity activism in a specific context, using insider activist voices from both the solidarity and indigenous activists – and uses that context and those voices in such a way that the integrity of that specificity is retained but also that we are able to transfer the case to other settings, both indigenous and non-indigenous struggles. This is essential reading for solidarity activists and vital if we are to develop ways to develop effective and meaningful affinity politics in the context of these developing intersectional analyses and an increasingly hostile global élite desperate to defend their power, and its sources.
August 15, 2021
A book recommended to me by a graduate student who was reading it as a text relevant to an Indigenous Research Methodologies course. Indigenous research has been tainted with epistemic and physical violence through colonization. One of the more common questions asked by non-Indigenous students in these courses is: ‘How can I contribute to or conduct research with Indigenous peoples?’ A good question, and in short: you can’t, alone.
Land fronts up with her own critical self-reflection (a non-negotiable first step as noted later in this book). She achieves this by clearly positioning the text and herself as author in the context of colonizer-colonized relations. In doing so, and with detailed support from Indigenous peoples, she stresses the importance of allies being familiar with the history of colonization in Australia as well as the history of solidarity (good and bad) before leaving the house.
Chapter five is a standout and outlines a pragmatic and helpful guide for non-Indigenous people who have ever asked: What can I do? (Spoiler alert – sometimes the answer is ‘stop’).
The take home message of this book is a call to action on page 228 directed at past, present, and would be allies “Interrogating and reconstructing non-Indigenous people’s interests is key to decolonizing solidarity”.
Go and read Indigenous authors and scholarship. Find out about colonization and where you sit in a colonial context. Then read this book. A good start for anyone wanting to conduct research with Indigenous peoples.
Land fronts up with her own critical self-reflection (a non-negotiable first step as noted later in this book). She achieves this by clearly positioning the text and herself as author in the context of colonizer-colonized relations. In doing so, and with detailed support from Indigenous peoples, she stresses the importance of allies being familiar with the history of colonization in Australia as well as the history of solidarity (good and bad) before leaving the house.
Chapter five is a standout and outlines a pragmatic and helpful guide for non-Indigenous people who have ever asked: What can I do? (Spoiler alert – sometimes the answer is ‘stop’).
The take home message of this book is a call to action on page 228 directed at past, present, and would be allies “Interrogating and reconstructing non-Indigenous people’s interests is key to decolonizing solidarity”.
Go and read Indigenous authors and scholarship. Find out about colonization and where you sit in a colonial context. Then read this book. A good start for anyone wanting to conduct research with Indigenous peoples.
June 18, 2020
Most insightful when leaning into interviews conducted with Indigenous activists the likes of Gary Foley and Robbie Thorpe, but overall a relatively effective look at the complexities of solidarity as practised by those who actively benefit from the settler-colonial state they are challenging. Some notable discussions around:
-Localising your allyship: ie, reckoning with how you personally benefit from your settler-colonial state, therefore personalising your relationship to solidarity. Which peoples lived where you now live? Where are they now? Where will they be in the future, and how does your presence effect that?
-Moving past paternalistic notions of 'helping' Indigenous peoples affected by colonisation.
-Actively practising humility, whilst not letting this humility become blind, exoticised (and in many ways inherently colonial) worship. Deference to Indigenous leadership does not mean passivity.
-Accepting and understanding the necessary suspicion directed towards all non-Indigenous allies.
-Localising your allyship: ie, reckoning with how you personally benefit from your settler-colonial state, therefore personalising your relationship to solidarity. Which peoples lived where you now live? Where are they now? Where will they be in the future, and how does your presence effect that?
-Moving past paternalistic notions of 'helping' Indigenous peoples affected by colonisation.
-Actively practising humility, whilst not letting this humility become blind, exoticised (and in many ways inherently colonial) worship. Deference to Indigenous leadership does not mean passivity.
-Accepting and understanding the necessary suspicion directed towards all non-Indigenous allies.
November 27, 2022
"It is not possible for white people to escape the ‘oppressor camp’ because whites are allowed to enjoy privilege whether or not they agree with white supremacy"
How do we, as members of a colonialist society engage in activism of indigenous struggles in a real and meaningful way while still being part of and benefiting from the very system we oppose. Land argues we can never truly escape the ‘oppressor camp’ due to our systemic privilege as white people. What is our reason for being involved? It can never be without serving ourselves in some way due again to our systemic privilege. But then, as the people with the most privilege we have a responsibility to use our privilege for change and social justice. We have to be prepared to always be seen as racist, no matter how hard we fight for indigenous struggles, because we are part of and benefit from the oppressor system. We should feel that our position is problematic, and recognize that, because it is, we cannot escape it.
How do we, as members of a colonialist society engage in activism of indigenous struggles in a real and meaningful way while still being part of and benefiting from the very system we oppose. Land argues we can never truly escape the ‘oppressor camp’ due to our systemic privilege as white people. What is our reason for being involved? It can never be without serving ourselves in some way due again to our systemic privilege. But then, as the people with the most privilege we have a responsibility to use our privilege for change and social justice. We have to be prepared to always be seen as racist, no matter how hard we fight for indigenous struggles, because we are part of and benefit from the oppressor system. We should feel that our position is problematic, and recognize that, because it is, we cannot escape it.
August 2, 2025
I can recommend undertaking the book club process for this book (linked below) for any non-Indigenous people working in the Indigenous solidarity space in Australia. The process cuts through years of built-up assumption, miseducation, and what you might call colonial thinking. It humbles the reader, turning them towards being useful accomplices, rather than more fraught allyship.
I think the book works best as a discussion aid in a group environment - as a straight read, it's very academic, clearly a PhD turned into a book, plenty of dense sections that are a bit of a hard slog. I'm grateful for the comprehensive history of Aboriginal activism in south-east Australia, and the quotes from a wide range of participants throughout.
https://decolonizingsolidarity.org/bo...
I think the book works best as a discussion aid in a group environment - as a straight read, it's very academic, clearly a PhD turned into a book, plenty of dense sections that are a bit of a hard slog. I'm grateful for the comprehensive history of Aboriginal activism in south-east Australia, and the quotes from a wide range of participants throughout.
https://decolonizingsolidarity.org/bo...
March 4, 2019
This book was not bad, per se, and I imagine that it's context would render it entirely more useful to those living and operating in the Australian context. Apart from that, though, I found the analysis to be relatively plain and unsurprising. With that in mind, it is likely a good introductory text.
January 23, 2021
Magnificent book. Walks through the complexity of non Indigenous people acting in alleyship with Indigenous people. It squarely places responsibility to be part of decolonising Australia with nonIndigenous people in a very real way. Was engaged all the way through.
March 18, 2021
Precise and reflective approach to critical understanding of white privilege and Aboriginal activism in south east Australia. Would recommend for anyone interested in decolonising relationships with Indigenous peoples and dismantling the privilege sustaining white supremacy.
January 13, 2018
Great book for those interested in inter-group solidarity of any kind.
May 20, 2021
An absolute must-read.
December 30, 2024
Excellent and necessary. If you’re striving to be more aware of your own moral blindspots and the value of thinking critically about how to be an ally to any kind of group or cause, read this book.
Read
December 28, 2024i learned so much from this book!
July 7, 2022
To be a social activist is to be truely human(e). It doesn't mean just standing up for what's right and doing what's right however, because my(our) understanding of what is required is deeply influenced by my(our) cultural and social experience.
Clare Land in her book Decolonizing Solidarity, looks to challenge the ways of 'thinking and being' that might limit the impacts of our contribution to the struggle for First Nation's Equality. Through her research with First Peoples and non-indigenous activists she reveals problems in the activism process and how these could be mitigated.
My copy is full of sticky notes, as I'm sure yours will be too! After reading this book I feel more empowered to decolonise my thinking and take greater responsibility for re-educating my people, the non-indigenous people who can be the problem and part of the solution to a fairer society.
Clare Land in her book Decolonizing Solidarity, looks to challenge the ways of 'thinking and being' that might limit the impacts of our contribution to the struggle for First Nation's Equality. Through her research with First Peoples and non-indigenous activists she reveals problems in the activism process and how these could be mitigated.
My copy is full of sticky notes, as I'm sure yours will be too! After reading this book I feel more empowered to decolonise my thinking and take greater responsibility for re-educating my people, the non-indigenous people who can be the problem and part of the solution to a fairer society.
Read
January 1, 2022fantastic primer on the politics of solidarity with indigenous struggles. appropriately focused on South -Eastern Australian solidarity, but largely resonant with broader indigenous and anti-colonial struggles. You can tell it was a PhD what with the methodology, subheadings and frequent signposting, but they ultimately contribute to a very clear, rigorous and nuanced study of engaging with indigenous struggles. 4.5 stars and a hearty recommendation.
February 17, 2021
Stopped at page 140. Might pick up again. But a disappointing read- academic tone and yet very basic, this book lacked nuanced and applicable best practices. Would have preferred better, more transferable suggestions for experienced allies in the struggle fir Indigenous rights.
January 29, 2017
This gets four stars for chapters 3-7, which were fascinating.
September 6, 2020
Brilliant book. Learning to be an ally is a long-term, reflective process. I gained a lot of insight into this journey from Clare Land. Highly recommend.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews