Recipient of Te Rangaunua Hiranga Māori Award 2021 – Royal Society Te Apārangi
Booksellers' Choice Award, Aotearoa Book Industry Awards, Joint Winner 2021
Featuring on Top 10 2020 vision
'Our selection of Top 10 books that offer insights into the year that was 2020, curated by our librarians for the Auckland Libraries Top 100 list.'
'Alongside some slightly more theoretical and historical discussions of colonization and decolonization, the heartfelt personal narratives give the book a distinct level of accessibility which benefits its general tenor and objective. … [Imagining Decolonisation] informs readers on varied experiences of colonial legacies with a low barrier to entry. This makes it a valuable contribution towards a more widespread understanding of, and a push for, decolonization.' – Mikko Myllyntausta, Journal for New Zealand and Pacific Studies
'This book is wonderful. It's a really accessible, simple, practical way in to thinking about some big ideas: what is this thing called decolonisation and what does it mean in contemporary Aotearoa? I feel like this book should be read by all New Zealanders.' – Leilani Tamu, RNZ Nine to Noon
'To mash the metaphors: is it a matter of a married couple uniting their individual strengths under one roof, or of finding peace by living "together apart"? Perhaps such ambiguity is inevitable in a collaborative exercise in fleshing out what Jackson calls the "ethic of restoration", where the end point gains definition as the journey progresses.' – Vaughan Yarwood, New Zealand Geographic
'Instead of talking at the reader these authors present informed ideas and observations for thought and also reference one another. This topic can be nerve wracking as there are so many different connotations associated with the word 'decolonisation' currently. How do you view the way life is going for our people and country? Consider some of the ongoing problems.... personal, social, environmental, cultural, fiscal and political, which never diminish but become more complex because of the way we are currently viewing them. I do encourage people from all walks of life to read this small but powerful book to gain an insight into the current conversation surrounding a credible future that could provide huge gains for all.' – Unity Books Wellington
'Through personal kōrero, as well as empirical and historical analysis, this multi-authored text reveals how colonisation has impacted on Māori and Pākehā, and how these impacts endure. It further reveals the acts of decolonisation needed to re-indigenise and restore ecologies, to heal human and non-human relationships, to eliminate socio-economic disparities and racism, and to build a more just society.' – Emma Gattey, Landfall Tauraka Review
One of the persistent drivers of the book is that colonisation is here to stay and that any rebuild we engage in, whether it be of our minds or the colonial machinery, should be done in concert with each other. We cannot disaggregate life, we are interdependent – our stories tell us that.' – Anahera Gildea, The Spinoff
'A book that aims to educate Kiwis on the effect of colonisation, in an attempt to move towards decolonising together.' – Siena Yates, Stuff
'[Imagining Decolonisation] seeks to "demystify decolonisation", a concept involving the unwinding of colonial systems within society and a shift towards a partnership with indigenous people and communities.' – Te Aorewa Rolleston, Radio New Zealand
'In his chapter, Moana Jackson calls this “hopeful change.” Restoring values, restoring the sense of justice and harmony that the Treaty envisaged, restoring for Māori the sense of self-determination that is “of the people, by the people, for the people”... When we reach that point, he says, we will have decolonised this country. We will have reached the justice of change and have fulfilled the hope of change.' – Kennedy Warne, E-Tangata
'Colonisation has always been a many rendered thing. Since the beginning of the European dispossession of the world’s Indigenous peoples, the colonisers have defined and redefined it in a vast story archive... Today there are new stories. Colonisation is a process of dispossession and control rather than a historical artefact, and now it takes on new forms.' – E-Tangata
'The book is not about "go back to Britain" approaches to decolonising, rather a "let’s all do better here".' – Tom McKinlay, Otago Daily Times
'What does decolonisation mean and how does the concept inspire Māori and Pākehā New Zealanders' vision for Aotearoa?' – Radio New Zealand
'Like colonisation, decolonisation is a huge and amorphous project. Some commentators and workers on decolonisation will jump into a room and start the clean-up without stopping to think about the bigger picture: what’s going on next door and in the project as a whole.' – Ocean Ripeka Mercier, The Big Q
'The absence of New Zealand history in our schools over many generations has meant too many of us are only just learning about colonisation and its ongoing impact. So, the concept of decolonisation, of undoing the harms of colonisation and forging a new reality based on respectful political relationships, can seem too far beyond our understanding and reach.' – Moana Jackson, E-Tangata
'When we think about colonisation, we tend to think about the ways it has affected indigenous communities, and these have been overwhelmingly negative. Yet perhaps we're overlooking something. It is possible that colonisation also impacts negatively on colonisers, on their descendants and, in the case of Aotearoa, on more recent migrants whose ancestors may not have been part of the early colonisation process.' – Rebecca Kiddle, Stuff
Read 'Where to next? Decolonisation and the stories in the land' by Moana Jackson in The Spinoff
