"Are We Moving Toward or Away from Innocence?" by Amy Bi published in U of T's Undergraduate Sociology Journal

January 10, 2019 by Kate Paik

Jing Meng (Amy) Bi  published "Are We Moving Toward or Away from Innocence?" in Volume I of the Undergraduate Sociology Journal (USJ).  She reflects on Tuck and Yang's (2012) work on North American settlers' attempts to reconcile colonial history and mitigate settler guilt, of which they coined the term "settler moves to innocence." However, these "moves" view decolonization as merely a concept and disregards the physical land. While analyzing Patel, Moussa and Upadhyay's (2015) work on settler complicity and the roles of settlers of colour, Amy also examines how a feminist language is adopted as the settlers are embodiments of the heteropatriarchal settler state, and argues for the unattainability of total innocence.

Amy is in her fourth year at the University of Toronto, with a specialist in psychology. She is interested in sociology because it allows her to view the world through different lenses. Rather than memorizing facts and answers, sociology encourages her to ask questions. Her favourite sociology course was SOC100: Introduction to Sociology, because it covered a range of topics and provided a great way for students to explore their interests in the field. In the future, Amy plans to apply to graduate studies in counselling psychology.