Like Interstellar, but here (and settler colonial): Roxane Gabet Severne, Adam Searle, ‘Somaforming on an alien Earth’, Geoforum, 170, 2026, #104559

19Feb26

Abstract: The realities of climate catastrophe increasingly threaten opportunities for multispecies liveability on this planet; Earth is becoming more alien every day through unequal intensities of weirding. We explore the conceptual provocations in the idea of ‘terraforming Terra’: that is, exploring the politics of transforming exoplanets – fabulated in the pages of science fiction – in contemporary empirical situations on an alien Earth. Gleaning insight from the speculative fiction of Becky Chambers in her 2019 novella To Be Taught, If Fortunate, we examine her concept of ‘somaforming’ in relation to terraforming. Chambers presents somaforming as a technology deployed to adapt bodies to alien planets, as an explicit alternative to terraforming, enabling human survival in hostile exoplanetary environments. We read somaforming with empirical reference to ongoing technoscientific efforts seeking to adapt bovine bodies to the imagined futures caused by global warming, in preparation for weird worlds to come. We analyse two scientific experiments that attempt to adapt cattle to the negative environmental impacts of climate change – respectively parasitism and heat stress – affecting animal welfare and agricultural productivity. While these somaforming practices each use a different technology transforming the cows’ body – through paint or gene editing – we argue that both illustrate the dangers of allowing ‘somaforming experiments’ to pre-empt an alien Earth, in its foreclosing of alternatives to ‘business as usual’.


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Doubts about Irish settler colonialisms: Timothy S Forest, ‘Reassembling the Mosaic: Western Irish Colonization and Redefining the “Other” in Canada in the Early 1880s’, Western Historical Quarterly, 2026, #19

18Feb26

Abstract: In 1880, the British and Canadian governments proposed a trial colonization scheme to transplant western Irish crofters to Manitoba. Proponents initially viewed these immigrants as idealized Britons whose traditional agrarian values would redeem the West from the perceived threats of modernization, socialism, and ethnic heterogeneity. However, as the “New Ireland” project was debated, perceptions shifted dramatically; the settlers were increasingly othered and stereotyped as lazy, disloyal, and unsuited for modern farming. This failure revealed deep-seated anxieties regarding racial hierarchies and the definition of Britishness and Irishness. In doing so, the scheme’s rise and fall challenges assumptions, past and present, surrounding Whiteness, borderland and settler colonial studies, privilege, and the construction of historical narratives.


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Irish settler colonialisms: John C. Mitcham, ‘Imperial Politics,the Dominions,and the Irish Question, 1907–21’, Journal of British Studies, 65, 2026, #e5

18Feb26

Abstract: It has long been recognized that the “Irish Question” was also an imperial question. The vast Irish diaspora in the settler colonies ensured that Home Rule had enormous consequences for the wider empire. But scholars have yet fully to appreciate the part that political elites in the self-governing Dominions played in this story. This article explores the role of colonial statesmen in Anglo-Irish affairs. FigureslikeAustralia’sBillyHughesorSouthAfrica’sJanSmutswereabletonavigatetheemotional complexities of Irish nationalist politics in a manner that transcended British party politics. In the process, they framed “colonial” Home Rule as a compromise between British rule and independence. This article shows how Irish nationalist politics became enmeshed with imperial politics in a manner that blurred the line between the local, national, imperial, and global.


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The genres of Indigenous survival: Jade Jenkinson, ‘From Indigenous Gothic to Indigenous Futurisms: Charting generic decay and renewal’, Literature, Critique, and Empire Today, 2026

18Feb26

Abstract: This article investigates the capacity for genre fiction to function as a site for decolonial and politically transgressive storytelling through an examination of the emergence and evolution of “Indigenous Gothic” and “Indigenous Futurisms.” I trace the definition and development of each genre and interrogate how these labels arise through an active dialogue shaped by creative works, political activism, market trends, and critical inputs. Rather than viewing Indigenous Futurisms as a replacement of the Indigenous Gothic, the article argues that Futurisms expand and exceed the Gothic’s parameters, absorbing and recontextualizing Gothic tropes while unsettling expectations informed by Western genre conventions. Drawing on a decolonial comparative approach that foregrounds Indigenous scholarly perspectives, the article closes with a close reading of Brandon Hobson’s The Removed (2021) to illustrate both the generic shift proposed and the ways Indigenous genre fiction provides a flexible mode for articulating what Dillon (2007) terms “practical humanism,” through its engagement with tropes from both genres to explore historical and contemporary concerns. The article contends that decoloniality is central to the evolution in genre, demonstrating how Indigenous authors redefine and extend the possibilities of genre through Indigenous methodological and epistemological frameworks.


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The landscape of settler colonialism: Eileen Crist, ‘Landscape meditations: Native versus colonist’, The Ecological Citizen, 9, 1, 2026, pp. 3-10

18Feb26

Excerpt: How can people be so insensitive to the dignity and independence of landscape?” author John O’Donahue asked (2010: 134). By people, he did not mean all human beings nor was he calling our attention to human nature. O’Donahue was talking about the human as “lord of creation” possessed by “luciferian pride” (ibid.). He was talking about the human identity gone global: the Earth settler colonialist.


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Health and connectedness are associated (another scoping review): Simran Brar, Albert Ben, Maria B. Ospina, ‘The association between cultural connectedness and health-related quality of life among Indigenous peoples in the CANZUS countries: a systematic review’, BMC Public Health, 2026

18Feb26

Abstract: Background: Cultural connectedness–the extent to which individuals feel connected to their culture through practices, language, traditions, and identity– is increasingly recognized as a key determinant of health among Indigenous peoples across the life course. High levels of cultural connectedness have been associated with improved health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Although several studies have examined this relationship, the evidence has not yet been comprehensively synthesized. Methods: A comprehensive search of six databases was conducted from database inception to June 2024. Searches were updated up to September 2025 to identify observational studies examining associations between cultural connectedness and HRQoL, mental health, or physical health among Indigenous populations in Australia, Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand, and the United States. Two independent reviewers conducted screening, data extraction and risk of bias assessment. Risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for cohort studies and its adapted version for cross-sectional studies. Effect direction plots and vote counting were used for synthesis. Results: From 7,444, records, 12 studies met the inclusion criteria (Canada n = 3; Australia n = 1; Aotearoa New Zealand n = 3; United States n = 5). Studies examined HRQoL (n = 2), mental health/well-being (n = 9) and physical health (n = 4), and included infants (n = 1), youth (n = 2), adults (n = 7), and Elders (n = 2). For HRQoL, one study reported a positive association with cultural connectedness and one reported no evidence of association. For mental health-well-being, three studies reported positive associations and six reported no evidence of association. For physical health, three studies reported positive associations and one reported no evidence of association. Conclusions: Across countries with similar histories of colonialism, evidence suggests that cultural connectedness may be associated with better physical health and, for some Indigenous populations, better mental health/well-being. Evidence for mental health/well-being and HRQoL remains less consistent across studies. Further research using culturally grounded measures and rigorous designs is needed to strengthen the evidence base and inform culturally responsive policies and programs that support Indigenous health and well-being across the life course.


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Indigenous children under settler colonialism (a scoping review): Akilew Awoke Adane, Tracy Reibel, Ailsa Munns, Carrington C. J. Shepherd, Helen Doreen Bailey, Fiona Stanley, Rhonda Marriott, ‘Child Development Interventions Among Indigenous Peoples in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States: A Scoping Review’, Children, 13, 2, 2026, #252

18Feb26

Abstract: Background: Children’s development is dependent on a range of factors influencing their life course outcomes. Protective and challenging social and cultural determinants impact how Indigenous families support their children’s developmental foundations. However, there is a lack of international evidence investigating Indigenous child development interventions. To gain a perspective across nations with comparable settler-colonial histories, this scoping review summarised studies on family and community-centred approaches among Indigenous populations in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States, focusing on outcomes and evidence gaps. Methods: A scoping review followed PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Medline, CINAHL, and PsycINFO (Ovid) were searched from their inception to October 2025, including grey literature sources from Aboriginal HealthInfoNet, the Lowitja Institute and the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care. Empirical studies, including quantitative, mixed-methods, evaluation studies, and descriptive or case-study designs, were included provided they reported empirical data on intervention outcomes. Due to study heterogeneity, data were synthesised narratively. Results: Following screening of 2355 records, eight from 2013 to 2020 met the inclusion criteria. These were mostly small-scale, non-randomising designs evaluating different interventions, with the behavioural and emotional domain being the most frequently assessed outcome, alongside developmental vulnerability and academic/educational areas. There was limited consideration of protective cultural determinants of health in the study design and implementation. Six studies reported positive associations between interventions or programmes and early childhood development outcomes. Conclusions: While the number and rigour of identified interventions were limited, several demonstrated potential benefits for Indigenous children’s early childhood development. However, strengthening the evidence base requires culturally grounded, adequately powered evaluations using rigorous study designs that include culturally co-designed adaptations conducted with Indigenous families and communities. Support is recommended for capacity building and funding.


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West of the Western (and a bit south too, and still bloody settler colonial): Brian McFarlane, Outback: Westerns in Australian Cinema, Intellect, 2026

18Feb26

Description: A study of the role of the Western film genre in Australia’s changing political and cultural landscape. Focusing on the influence of the cinematic Western in Australian cinema history, Outback explores how the American genre has been adapted to the changing Australian social, political, and cultural contexts of their production, including the shifting emphases in the representation of the Indigenous population. Brian McFarlane emphasizes the ways film can, without didacticism, provide evidence of changing politics and culture. McFarlane explores Australian history with the genre by analyzing such films as Charles Tait’s 1906 The Story of the Kelly Gang and Justin Kurzel’s 2020 adaptation of Peter Carey’s The True History of the Kelly Gang. He further explores other key matters, including the changing attitudes to and representation of Indigenous peoples and of women’s roles in Australian Westerns. Brian McFarlane is adjunct professor in the Department of Media and Communications at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. He is the editor of The Encylopedia of British Film and coeditor of The Oxford Companion to Australian Film, among others.


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With a chapter by Zahi Zalloua: ‘Critique of Indigenous Reason: The Case of Palestine’, in P. Khalil Saucier (ed.), Practices of Disciplinary Refusal for New Futures: On Critique and Humanism, Bloomsbury, 2026

18Feb26

Access the chapter here.


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Settler colonialism’s moving image: María Guadalupe Arenillas, ‘North-South Filmmaking, Settler Colonialism, and Indigenous Resurgences’, JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, 65, 2, 2025, pp. 150-156

17Feb26

Excerpt: While film and photography have traditionally played a part in the extermination of Indigenous peoples and in their misleading representations, Indigenous filmmaking (also known as Fourth Cinema) activates a gaze that centers on Native perspectives, brings awareness to imbalanced filmic practices, and contributes to projects of sovereignty.


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