The weight of settler colonialism: Bronwyn Carlson, ‘Indigenous fat rebellion: Rejecting settler fatphobia and reclaiming body sovereignty’, Fat Studies, 2025 | settler colonial studies blog

The weight of settler colonialism: Bronwyn Carlson, ‘Indigenous fat rebellion: Rejecting settler fatphobia and reclaiming body sovereignty’, Fat Studies, 2025

25Jul25

Abstract: This article confronts the urgent need for Indigenous Fat Studies by asking: What does it mean to embody fatness as an Indigenous person under the weight of settler-colonial oppression? Fatness, for Indigenous Peoples, is a radical site of resistance against a colonial legacy that enforces Eurocentric ideals of health, beauty, and body size. Indigenous body sovereignty stands as a powerful act of defiance, rejecting settler narratives that demonize and pathologise fat bodies. This article explores how Indigenous fat liberation reclaims fatness as a vital expression of cultural strength, selfdetermination, and community resilience. By reclaiming body narratives embedded in Indigenous knowledge systems and lifeworlds, Indigenous communities challenge harmful colonial frameworks and reject colonial ownership over Indigenous bodies and lives. This article calls for a dismantling of settler-colonial health, body and beauty regimes and champions a future where Indigenous body autonomy reigns, asserting that Indigenous fat studies is essential for radical body liberation and sovereignty.

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