Round table: Here from elsewhere: ‘Settlerism’ as a platform for south-south dialogue, Institute for Postcolonial Studies, Melbourne, 21 October 2010.

Ex-colonial countries share not only the experience of repression of indigenous populations, but also the formation of new non-indigenous identities. Across the former colonised world, there appear to be common elements in the development of nationalism. But there are also important differences, particularly in regard to indigenous peoples. As a platform for dialogue, how well does settlerism facilitate better understanding across the South? Can it extend beyond English-speaking countries to include other regions, such as Latin America? Is there more to be said of the comparison between Australia and New Zealand? People planning to attend this seminar might wish to read some of the pieces on settler colonialism in the March 2010 issue of Postcolonial Studies. James Belich is Professor at the Stout Research Centre, University of Wellington. His two volumes on New Zealand history, Making Peoples and Paradise Reforged, are considered comprehensive and engaging. His recent publication Replenishing the Earth: The Settler Revolution and the Rise of the Angloworld, 1780-1930 is described in the TLS as “one of the most important works on the broad processes of modern world history to have appeared for years.” Kate Darian-Smith is Professor of Australian Studies and History at the University of Melbourne. She has written widely on Australian history and on the British world. Her works include, as co-editor, British Abroad: Transnational Movements and Imperial Cultures (Melbourne University Press, 2007) and Text, Theory, Space: land, literature and history in South Africa and Australia (Routledge, 1996). She is currently working on an ARC-funded project (with Penny Edmonds and Julie Evans) on Conciliation Narratives in British Settler Societies in the Pacific Rim. Lorenzo Veracini is a Senior Research Fellow at Swinburne University and holds a Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship. He is the author of Israel and Settler Society (Pluto Press 2006) and Settler Colonialism: A Theoretical Overview (forthcoming). He is currently writing a global history of settler colonialism and is on the editorial board of the new journal, settler colonial studies.