The settler colonialism of social work and the social work of settler colonialism

“It feels a bit like drowning”: Expectations and Experiences of Motherhood during COVID-19

“…Black and Indigenous families, as well as other families of colour, face unending racism that limits opportunities for "appropriate" parenting, and are then accused of neglect. This hearkens back to a colonial history in which Indigenous land was pillaged and then starving Indigenous people were maligned for asking for state support (Fortier and Wong 2018). In other words, patriarchal motherhood creates impossible expectations (especially for particular people and identities) and then judges and polices mothers when these expectations cannot be met.…”

The politics of care

“…I am aware of how troubling the term ‘occupation’ is, particularly in relation to settler colonialism. The question is if such acts can be repurposed toward freedom; that is, if no-borders movements can practice decolonial politics, working with indigenous communities against the nation-state to undo rather than further the settler colonial project (Fortier, 2017 ). The point is not to imagine or claim the land as empty or available, but precisely to refuse the authority of the state, challenging its right to decide who resides where.…”

Historical Roots of Social Assistance: An Inadequate Response to the Colonial Destruction of Mi’kmaw Livelihood in Nova Scotia

“…However, a large part of it was also due to increases in medical spending, a growing Mi'kmaq population, and the broader expansion of modern welfare services. In short, social welfare for both Indigenous Peoples and settlers expanded concurrently with industrialization (Fortier & Hon-Sing Wong, 2019). Despite the growing remit of governments to provide basic services in periods of hardship, the Department of Indian Affairs resisted this expansion and continued to blame rising expenditures on Mi'kmaq dependence.…”

“…A growing body of literature has begun to address the colonial histories of social welfare policy in Canada and beyond (Brownlie, 2003;Chapman & Withers, 2019;Midgley, 1997;Shewell, 2004;Taylor-Neu et al, 2019). Fortier and Hon-Sing Wong (2019) claim that social assistance policy's origins can be traced to paternalistic and "civilizing" colonial relationships "imposed on Indigenous peoples by early traders and missionaries long before the mass migrations of white settler populations at the dawn of the long nineteenth century" (p. 438). Contemporary social service provision, they argue, remains "circumscribed by logics of conquest, extraction, apprehension, management, and pacification that advance the settler project and seek to secure settler futurity" (p. 437).…”