Settlement is sovereignty: Hüseyin Sevinç,  Mert Mahir Göz, ‘Settlement Policies and the Sovereignty Regime in Palestine: Demographic Engineering, Settler Colonialism, and Spatial Politics’, Journal of Humanity, Peace and Justice, 3, 1, 2026, pp. 57-78

18May26

Abstract: This study analyses Israel’s settlement policies in the Palestinian territories — which gained momentum in the late nineteenth century and were institutionalised with the establishment of the state in 1948 — as a long-term sovereignty project and a practice of demographic engineering. Whilst the existing literature predominantly addresses the settlement issue from the perspectives of conflict studies, international law, or human rights, this article explains these policies through an integrated theoretical framework articulating the concepts of demographic engineering, settler colonialism, and spatial politics. Drawing on a qualitative research design, 69 secondary documents — comprising reports from United Nations agencies, international human rights organisations, peer-reviewed academic literature, legal texts, and cartographic sources — were systematically examined through directed content analysis. The findings reveal that Israel pursues its settlement project through four coordinated strategies: (1) dispossession through legal and administrative instruments, (2) spatial fragmentation and control regimes, (3) population transfer and demographic transformation, and (4) legitimising discourses. The original contribution of this study lies in its multi-mechanism operationalisation of demographic engineering — moving beyond conventional definitions confined to forced migration or direct population transfer to explain the combined operation of legal-administrative dispossession, spatial fragmentation, and legitimising discourse. The findings demonstrate that the Israeli-Palestinian issue transcends a simple territorial dispute, representing a structural and long-term project that systematically targets the spatial and political sovereignty of a people.


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The settler’s house: Marisa da Silva Martins, ‘Writing Back to the Canon: The Birchbark House as Counter-Narrative to Little House on the Prairie’, Via Panoramica, 14, 1, 2025

18May26

Abstract: This article focuses on two children’s novels: Little House on the Prairie (1932) by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and The Birchbark House (1999) by Louise Erdrich. Both works are set in the nineteenth century, specifically during the westward expansion, and during the forced displacement of Indigenous communities. This article aims to read the two novels as opposing narratives, particularly regarding the ways in which settler-colonialism and Native Americans are represented. Through a postcolonial lens, this article aims to show Louise Erdrich’s novel as a counter-narrative, in which the culture and way of life of the Ojibwe community is put in the foreground, as well as its resistance toward white settlers.


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Russian settler colonialism today: Rusana Novikova, ‘”The land needs a master”: agrarian ideals and settler realities in the Russian Far East’, The Journal of Peasant Studies, 2026

18May26

Abstract: This article traces the khoziain, the steadfast, self-sufficient land master, as an enduring ideal linking late Soviet agrarian reform, the Hectare program, and the state’s renewed fascination with Old Believers. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in the Russian Far East, it shows how this moral figure continues to shape state visions of productivity, settlement, and virtueeven as such projects falter in practice. While the Hectare rearticulates the khoziain through technocratic land distribution and media celebrate Old Believers as exemplary settlers, ethnography shows that land users instead define mastery through care, subsistence, and ecological maintenance rather than market-oriented agricultural production.


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Political settler colonial theory: David Myer Temin, Morgan Mowatt, Max Ajl, Phil Henderson, ‘Settler colonialism and political theory’, Contemporary Political Theory, 25, 2026, #38

17May26

Excerpt: Today the term ‘settler colonialism’ and its associated theoretical frameworks hold obvious significance. The notion of settler colonialism now serves frequently as a lens for critical political and social thought in the humanities and social sciences and outside the academy in social movements. The laser focus on the politics of erasure ought to be impossible to evade, by dint of its gruesome salience to the continuing live-streamed Israeli genocide of Gazans and the Palestinian people since the 7 October 2023 Hamas incursion into the Gaza Envelope. Of late, right-wing activists have even slotted the notion of settler colonialism in as their next target for classroom bans, calling it ‘Critical Race Theory 2.0’. In doing so, they aim to build on the Biden and now-Trump administration repression of movements and academic work opposing Israel’s relentless assault on civilians in Gaza and the West Bank. The fact of erasure must itself be erased.


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In press: Audrey R. Giles, Britta Peterson, Meredith Wing, Emilia Fera, Dan Henhawk, Daniel Brisebois, ‘A critical discourse analysis of the representation of Indigenous Peoples in Leisure/Loisir’s first 49 volumes’, Leisure/Loisir, 2026

17May26

Abstract: Perhaps one of the biggest changes that has occurred in the settler state presently known as Canada over the past 55 years has been relations between settlers and Indigenous Peoples. But how have these changes been reflected in scholarship published in Leisure/Loisir? To address this question, the authors engaged with settler colonial theory and critical discourse analysis to examine the ways in which understandings of Indigenous Peoples have been produced over the past 49 volumes. Their findings demonstrate that, for many decades, authors mainly centred the perspectives of recreation professionals, academics and government officials, thereby reinforcing the authority and expertise of those who produced knowledge about Indigenous Peoples. More recently, there has been an increase in the production of and importance placed on research with and by Indigenous Peoples, concomitant with critiques of settler colonialism. However, despite these discursive shifts, important silences remain, particularly pertaining to Métis Peoples and Inuit.


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If it’s terra nullius … : Rakesh Kumar, ‘Digital terra nullius? Artificial intelligence experimentation and sovereignty in Australia’, Dialogues on Digital Society, 2026

17May26

Abstract: The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI), data infrastructures, and digital experimentation in Australia raises a pressing question: are we witnessing the emergence of a new form of terra nullius, rearticulated through digital systems rather than land? The notion of ‘digital terra nullius’ although provocative, risks being either too metaphorical or too determinist. Instead, I propose that the expression can be productive if it is carefully situated in place and time. In doing so, I ask: to what extent do contemporary AI infrastructures reproduce colonial spatial logics and where might they diverge?


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Fiery resistance: Perry Mendoza, ‘Fires that Light the Way: On Witnessing Occupied Palestine—and Beyond’, Journal of American Folklore, 139, 552, 2026, pp. 197–203

17May26

Abstract: This paper investigates the situations unveiled symbolically by the wildfires in Jerusalem (Al-Quds). It considers the ongoing situation in Palestine as a complex of events that reveals various forms of settler colonialism, from their entanglements with archaeology, to their impositions on the flora and fauna of Gaza, taking the wildfires as a point of departure for a metaphorical contemplation on two possibilities: the possibility of hope and the possibility of political change that gives the fields both of Palestine and folkloristics a more optimistic future.


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Prisoners of the sim colony: Allie Thek, ‘Pay for Your Lack of Vision: The Naturalization of Imperialist Epistemology in Science Fiction Colony Sims’, Utopian Studies, 37, 1, 2026, pp. 106-125

15May26

Abstract: Even when the genre attempts to imagine far-flung futures, and despite a(n ostensible) divorce from the context of historical imperialism, contemporary science fiction (SF) colony sim games have continued to function under and reify epistemological frameworks that see capitalism, imperialism, and neoliberalism as natural laws instead of sociocultural choices that go on to color the games’ expression of race, sexuality, and gender, as well as economy, ecology, and futurity. In short, colony sims seem epistemologically unable to imagine a society of the future materially different from the society of the now, potentially foreclosing possible futures even as they imagine them.


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Decolonisation from deep down: Sara Chitsaz, Taylor Behn-Tsakoza, John R. Parkins, ‘Indigenous-Led Energy Transition: Exploring the Tu Deh-Kah Geothermal Project as a Path to Reconciliation’, in Bram Noble, Greg Poelzer, Gwen Holdmann, Saurabh Biswas, Diane Hirshberg (eds), Routledge Handbook of Arctic Energy Transition, Routledge, 2026

15May26

Abstract: Indigenous renewable energy presents a unique opportunity to challenge and rectify the historical legacies of settler colonialism and the exploitation faced by Indigenous communities in the context of resource extraction. This study focuses on the Tu Deh-Kah (TDK) geothermal project in Northeast British Columbia, Canada, which stands as an Indigenous renewable energy venture fully owned by the Fort Nelson First Nation. The objective of this research is to identify specific aspects of the TDK project that contribute to reconciliation efforts. Additionally, we employ the concept of settler-colonialism to comprehend and analyze community members’ perspectives regarding the project. Findings from an online survey of 45 community members and six follow-up interviews reveal a range of aspirations for the project, such as community vibrancy and capacity building. However, concerns include the project’s feasibility and the equitable distribution of benefits. Notably, we distinguish between practical elements of community ownership and community engagement within the project.


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Settlers out there: Scott Solomon, ‘Will Settling Space Lead to the Evolution of a New Human Species?’ in Chris Carberry, Rick Zucker (eds), A Future Spacefaring Society: Establishing Human Life Beyond Earth, Springer, 2026, pp. 321–331

14May26

Abstract: Creating a self-sustaining human civilization beyond Earth rests on the ability to engage in one very basic, yet essential endeavor: reproduce. The first baby born on the moon or Mars will, in many ways, be an even greater milestone than the first human footstep on its surface. Without the ability to reproduce in-situ, our status on other planets will remain as visitors, not residents. If we can successfully reproduce beyond Earth, we have the potential to become a true spacefaring society—one that does not need to be tethered to the home planet to perpetuate itself.


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