Stephen Winter’s presentation on redress programs for those who suffered abuse while in state care piqued my interest because the history of the intersection of government and the underserved has been marred with suffering. In the past, those who were unlucky enough to fall outside of the status quo were considered ‘rejects’ and ‘defectives’. If someone was subject to abuse by a state worker, it was solely due to the circumstances of their birth.
Free of the overwhelmingly white hegemony’s emphasis on innate qualities, we now understand how power, rather than circumstance, fuels inequalities. Now, we begin the long road to reparations for those who were disregarded and wronged for so long. But the issue of who makes the decisions around these reparations is still prevalent.
Despite our government waking up to the rampant abuse of children that were in their care, our elected officials still deem themselves to be the proper arbiter of justice for the people for whom their institutions were responsible for abusing. Victims of abuse still have little idea of who is making decisions about their value, and how. The process is slow, and the system under-staffed. This points to the broader relevance of this supposedly small-scale issue. No matter how much progress we make towards evening the score for the oppressed and abused, hegemony seeps into the noble heart of almost all things. Invariably, power with good intentions is still power, selfish despite our best efforts.
So what can we do?
For all its flaws, democracy is still the only way we can challenge power. For survivors of abuse, indigenous communities, LGBTQ+ people, and other underserved groups, all we can do is be critical. Never be satisfied with the government, always be questioning, and listening to what is under the surface. The privileged hold power, but united, the people can fight back.
