Throughout human history our diverse identities have fuelled both conflict and peace and play a vital role in understanding our past and our future. By understanding identity, we can better understand our position relative to other identities, and therefore other communities of people. Positionality is about our relationships between each other, the origins and formations of our ideas and knowledge, and the actions we credit to ourselves and others. 

In the 20th and 21st centuries race, religion, sexuality, gender and class all factored heavily into the formation of our identities. National identities also shaped the world, and saw the world plunged into conflict. These diverse identities were shared across our families and communities at first, but they would not remain isolated for long. As the world became smaller and we became increasingly connected by technology, we would become exposed to more ways of existing. 

For some people, this diversity was considered abnormal. Naturally, this darker view of our shared existence and difference lead to the mentality of supremacy by colonisers that would drive discrimination, oppression and conflict for centuries. 

The reality is that difference is not a measure of better or worse, just different. Identity formation is fundamental to our human experience, it literally makes us who we are. A shared identity is what gives us the connections to others that we need not only to survive, but to thrive as a society. Without it we have no music, no literature, no art. 

So when we think about our shared future, the answers are not to strip away our identities or tear down cultures wholesale. Instead we have to change the ways we think about identities and how we relate to one another. Positionality can therefore be a tool to demystify and reflect on our identities with a mind to building better relationships. 

Key to positionality is truth-telling and self-awareness. By starting with the truth about your own story, the other people in it, and the factors that shaped it, we can observe the world around us truthfully and know ourselves more fully. In doing so we can examine what we know, how we came to know it, and perhaps test the rightness of these ideas. Assumptions and old lies are the worst culprits in discrimination and hate, so we must actively fight against them. While this is a bit of an introverted exercise, when taken seriously by individuals and a community it serves as a starting point for other important work, including decolonisation. 

When we think about any two people or communities with one another, we often think about conflict. With the rise of social media over the last two decades, we have felt growing divides along identity lines. This rising fuel pile has mostly been used to the advantage of politicians and cultural agitators to profit from the fear and division. This is only one of the many different ways that two communities can interact with one another. On the other hand we have reconciliation and peace-making, which seeks to remedy these divisions. When we think more broadly about relationships and communication, one of the keys to success in achieving meaningful and progressive change is truth between peoples.

If we are to all come to the table and work together to build a better future, we need to develop ways of not only understanding the difference of others, but understanding how we are different too. Self-determination is key here, real lasting change must come from within a community, and not be enforced from the outside. 

Within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities that work has been underway for decades. As we reclaim culture, language and land, we reclaim the vital parts of our identity and know ourselves and histories better. We are all on our own journey in that identity formation, and every identity is different. In the past, governments saw it fitting to assign people identities like “half-caste” or “full blooded”, which are now considered inherently racist and horribly offensive terms. Today, we recognise all the diversity of what it means to be Indigenous in Australia, and with that consider the equitable ways we can support each other. 

Taking this identity work seriously is vital if we are to fight against cycles of war and conflict. Invariably they start with categorisation, leading to tribalism, and a fracturing of identities into “us and them”. Then the dehumanisation starts as we feel more and more detached from the “others” out there in the world. Then, when the “others” threaten us, we invoke our right to self-defence and seek to destroy. This cycle of violence is well known, understood and has been patterned throughout human history. By being aware of this strategy of war-making, we can actively fight against it. 

Positionality starts with carefully considering our own identities and relationships we hold. We must reflect deeply on who we are, what we think, and the consequences of the past. Then we embrace a more peaceful and diverse future, knowing that the alternative is the end of humanity. Together, with the collective knowledge, ideas, and abilities of all of us we can step together towards a real future; a future that is not dictated by hatred, supremacy, or falsehood. 

Together, Indigenous peoples can help evolve our world and bring about a more sustainable and just future, but we cannot do it alone. You can only lead a person and a nation to self-reflection, but you cannot make it change unless it wants to.