Settler indifference: Emily Grafton, ‘The Reproduction of Settler Colonial Logics as Reinforcement of Settler Indifference in Canada’, International Journal of Conflict & Reconciliation, 6, 1, 2026, pp. 23-40 | settler colonial studies blog

Settler indifference: Emily Grafton, ‘The Reproduction of Settler Colonial Logics as Reinforcement of Settler Indifference in Canada’, International Journal of Conflict & Reconciliation, 6, 1, 2026, pp. 23-40

19Apr26

Abstract: This article presents a meta-narrative examining the Canadian settler public’s indifference toward Indian Residential Schools and associated genocide denial. To produce this meta-narrative, its research methodology of re-framing draws on critical anti-colonial and decolonial scholarship. The findings demonstrate a clear connection between the logic of settler colonialism and Canadians’ indifference to the nation’s history with Indian Residential Schools. This indifference is reinforced by long-standing settler colonial narratives. This article contributes original insights to the field of settler colonial scholarship by integrating existing research on settler colonial narratives and critiques of reconciliation to develop a new framework—a meta-narrative—for understanding settler indifference and its impact on Canadian society. The social implications of this framework include a deeper understanding of the insidious and destructive nature of settler colonial logic within reconciliation practices, which often perpetuate settler indifference. The evidence suggests that reconciliation efforts can reproduce settler colonial logics through dominant narratives, resulting in superficial or inauthentic understandings of reconciliation. In conclusion, reconciliation processes ought to be built through new and transformational relationships instead of relying on and reifying past settler colonial logics.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Closed