Diversity and inclusion are collapsed into numeric representation of Indigenous and racialised students. There is no substantive recognition of white/European epistemological dominance, and no demand for deep structural change. This is perhaps the most prevalent position circulating in higher education in settler colonies.
– Naepi et al., 2017 p.89
European epistemological dominance refers to the hegemony of European ways of knowing and being, marginalising non-European knowledge systems. This dominance is evident in the structure, curricula, and values of universities, which privilege Eurocentric knowledge while devaluing or tokenising Indigenous and other non-European epistemologies. For example, non-European knowledge systems are often only superficially included in curricula, such as during ‘diversity weeks’, without challenging the overall Eurocentric framework of the entire curricula. The tokenistic incorporation of Indigenous knowledge, which must conform to European standards to be recognised, further perpetuates this dominance.
Additional Resources
- A Cartography of Higher Education: Attempts at Inclusion and Insights from Pasifika Scholarship in Aotearoa New Zealand
- Indigenizing Critical whiteness: Deconstruction of Vā-Relational Practices in Aotearoa-New Zealand University Settings
- Pillars of the colonial institution are like a knowledge prison’: the significance of decolonizing knowledge and pedagogical practice for Pacific early career academics in higher education
- Finding the Words: Using Critical Theory to Speak Back to Our Institutions
- Shifting Tides: The Potential and Limitations of Critical Mass to Change Discipline Research Habits
