Abstract: Clearing the gorse, a particularly aggressive invasive plant, so that native plants can flourish has been used as a potent metaphor for decolonization, and described as labour appropriate for settlers to perform in the interest of just relations with Indigenous peoples. Yet, this labour is not simply one of negation, for it involves learning […]

Abstract: I use Edward Said’s (in: Culture and imperialism, Vintage, 1993) theory, that nations ‘are narrations: who owned land, could settle, plan its future, are all stories of imperialism. The history teacher could not only consider ‘what to read’, but also ‘how to read’ taking account of the processes of imperialism; of the macro-history of […]

Abstract: The doctrine of popular sovereignty holds that the ‘supreme authority of the state’ belongs to the people, not to the political institutions exercising public power. What are the implications of this view when there is more than one people in the territory of that state? The case of Indigenous peoples highlights this question, as […]

Abstract: This article uses white Canadian settler artist Mary Pratt’s photorealistic paintings of salmon to grapple with the ways in which settler colonialism necessitates anti-relationality between humans and the non-human world. I trace Indigenous (Beothuk and Mi’kmaq) histories of salmon in Ktaqmkuk|Newfoundland to grapple with what Pratt’s seemingly placid visions of everyday domestic settler life […]

Abstract: Since Algeria’s independence from France in 1962 after 132 years of colonial rule (1830–1962), claims and counterclaims for reparations have continually resurfaced in a variety of legal forums and public spaces. A brutal war of decolonization (1954–62) brought an end to France’s settler colony in Algeria, instigating incompatible and ongoing demands for repatriation, restitution, […]