settler colonial studies blog

The settler’s home through composting: Avril Bell, Rebecca Ream, ‘Troubling Pākehā Relations to Place: Composting Home Stories ‘, Departures in Critical Qualitative Research, 10, 1, 2021, pp. 97–116

23Mar21

Abstract: In this duoethnographic essay, united in our desire as white settler scholars to trouble the settler colonial legacies still steeped in what counts as our “home,” we have written personal accounts of our connections to certain places. Building on these musings, we explore the ontological perspectives of Donna J. Haraway and Karen Barad to navigate the more-than-human dimensions of our home places as well as their troubling colonial histories. Using composting as theory making, we make tentative conclusions about the practice of white settler response-ability and the possibilities of a more response-able relationship with Indigenous people and with our home places.

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An emergent paradigm: Areej Sabbagh-Khoury, ‘Tracing Settler Colonialism: A Genealogy of a Paradigm in the Sociology of Knowledge Production in Israel’, Politics & Society, 2021

21Mar21

Abstract: Knowledge is inextricably bound to power in the context of settler colonialism where apprehension of the Other is a tool of domination. Tracing the development of the “settler colonial” paradigm, this article deconstructs Zionist and Israeli dispossession of Palestinian land and sovereignty, applying the sociology of knowledge production to the study of the Israeli-Palestinian case. The settler colonial paradigm, linked to Israeli critical sociology, post-Zionism, and postcolonialism, reemerged following changes in the political landscape from the mid-1990s that reframed the history of the Nakba as enduring, challenged the Jewish definition of the state, and legitimated Palestinians as agents of history. Palestinian scholars in Israel lead the paradigm’s reformulation. This article offers a phenomenology of Palestinian positionality, a critical potential for decolonizing the settler colonial structure and exclusive Jewish sovereignty, to consolidate a field of study that shapes not only research into the Israeli-Palestinian case but approaches to decolonization and liberation.

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Settler colonial slow violence: Pauline Wakeham, ‘The Slow Violence of Settler Colonialism: Genocide, Attrition, and the Long Emergency of Invasion’, Journal of Genocide Research, 2021

21Mar21

Abstract: In recent decades, scholarship has sought to redress genocide studies’ lack of attention to assaults against Indigenous group life in settler colonial contexts. While this scholarship has made important interventions into a field dominated by the Holocaust prototype, work on genocides targeting Indigenous peoples has still laboured under the shadow of this paradigm’s norms, including the prioritization of time-intense direct violence enacted with explicit intent. Studies of settler colonial genocide have consequently tended to focus upon specific, temporally-bound historical policies and events despite the fact that such assaults are part of settler colonialism’s persistent structure of invasion. In 2019, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada challenged this case-specific approach, arguing that violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people is part of a protracted, ongoing genocide against Indigenous nations. In this article, I expand upon the Inquiry’s consideration of slower, less direct modes of group destruction. To do so, I draw upon scholarship on genocide by attrition—a concept not mentioned in the Inquiry’s report. Despite their shared concerns, studies of genocide by attrition and settler colonial genocide have yet to engage each other substantially. I consider how cross-pollination between these fields helps to challenge restrictive equations of genocide with time-intensive direct violence. Additionally, I develop a framework for addressing the cumulative harms that accrue when multiple genocidal processes are waged upon Indigenous nations as part of settler colonialism’s long emergency. Finally, I consider how settler colonial genocidal processes necessitate a more nuanced, knowledge-based interpretation of intent—an approach that illuminates how the consequences of protracted assaults become undeniable and, therefore, undeniably intended as they proceed in slow motion.

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The invisibility of indigenous nonviolence: Michelle Pace, Muhammad Shehada, Ziad Abu Mustafa, ‘Interpolating Gazans’ non-violence: Responsibilities in the academy and the media’, Partecipazione e conflitto, 2, 2021

21Mar21

Abstract: Since the creation of Israel in 1948 its strategies of suppressing Palestinian resistance reveal a conscious scheme of slow elimination of the natives. What concerns us in this article is that, in light of all Israel’s intentional violence, episodes of Palestinian non-violence do not capture and sustain the world’s attention in the way that violent acts do. In order to fill this gap, and conceptually, we draw upon the rich works of Puar and de Sousa Santos, as well as others, to show how Gazans’ heterogeneous ontologies and experiences with Israel’s settler colonialism have, over the years, shaped a multiplicity of strategies for resistance. Empirically, we draw upon ethnographic observations and interviews conducted with Gazan Great March of Return (GRM) protesters to analyze their strategies of nonviolence. We conclude that, in spite of the lack of sustained focus by academics and the media (in general) on the embedded resilience of Palestinians to Israel’s settler colonial regime, and in spite of Israel’s targeting of resistance itself, Palestinians’ resolve remains as alive as ever in pursuit of their right to have rights. Our analysis in turn has implications for how the media and the academy interpolate and write about nonviolence.

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Indigenous knowledge against settler colonial wildlife management: Andrew N. Kadykalo, Steven J. Cooke, Nathan Young, ‘The role of western‐based scientific, Indigenous and local knowledge in wildlife management and conservation’, People and Nature, 2021

18Mar21

Abstract: Managers of wildlife are faced with decisions and issues that are increasingly complex, spanning natural and human dimensions (i.e. values, preferences, attitudes). A strong evidence base that includes multiple forms and sources of knowledge is needed to support these complex decisions. However, a growing body of literature demonstrates that environmental managers are far more likely to draw on intuition, past experience or opinion to inform important decisions rather than empirical evidence. We set out to assess how decision‐makers and other potential knowledge users (a) perceive, evaluate and use western‐based scientific, Indigenous and local knowledge and (b) the extent to which social, political and economic considerations challenge the integration of different forms of evidence into decision‐making. In 2018, we interviewed members from natural resource management branches of Indigenous governments (n = 4) and parliamentary governments (n = 33), as well as representatives from nongovernmental stakeholder groups (n = 28) involved in wildlife management and conservation in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Contrary to studies that suggest evidence‐based conservation and management are rare, respondents described relying heavily on multiple forms of knowledge. Results revealed that western science is used near‐unanimously, procured from internal (i.e. institutional) sources slightly more than external ones (i.e. peer‐reviewed journals, management agencies in other jurisdictions). However, we found Indigenous and local knowledge use to be much less than western scientific knowledge (approximately half as much) despite being highly valued. Perceived challenges to applying Indigenous and local knowledge include a lack of trust, hesitancy to share knowledge (particularly from Indigenous communities), difficulties in assessing reliability and difficulties discerning knowledge from advocacy. Despite high (and relatively diverse) evidence use, more than 40% of respondents perceived a diminishing role for evidence in final decisions concerning wildlife management and conservation. They associated this with decreases in institutional resources and capacity and increases in socio‐economic and political interference. We encourage transformative change in wildlife management enabling decision‐makers to draw upon multiple forms of knowledge. This transformative change should include direct involvement of knowledge holders, co‐assessment of knowledge and transparency in how (multiple forms of) evidence contribute to decision‐making.

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Renewable energy against settler colonial extraction: Chad J.R. Walker, Mary Beth Doucette, Sarah Rotz, Diana Lewis, Hannah Tait Neufeld, Heather Castleden, ‘Non-Indigenous partner perspectives on Indigenous peoples’ involvement in renewable energy: exploring reconciliation as relationships of accountability or status quo innocence?’ Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management, 2021

18Mar21

Abstract: This research considers the potential for renewable energy partnerships to contribute to Canada’s efforts to overcome its colonial past and present by developing an understanding of how non-Indigenous peoples working in the sector relate to their Indigenous partners. This study is part of a larger research program focused on decolonization and reconciliation in the renewable energy sector. This exploratory research is framed by energy justice and decolonial reconciliation literatures relevant to the topic of Indigenous-led renewable energy. The authors used content and discourse analysis to identify themes arising from 10 semi-structured interviews with non-Indigenous corporate and governmental partners. Interviewees’ lack of prior exposure to Indigenous histories, cultures and acknowledgement of settler colonialism had a profound impact on their engagement with reconciliation frameworks. Partners’ perspectives on what it means to partner with Indigenous peoples varied; most dismissed the need to further develop understandings of reconciliation and instead focused on increasing community capacity to allow Indigenous groups to participate in the renewable energy transition.

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The settler story as a classical tale: M. Lambert, ‘Herodotus and the 1820 Settlers in South Africa: Historiographies of Colonization and the “Cacophony” of Voices’, Akroterion, 65, 2020, pp. 143-167

16Mar21

Abstract: The renewal of interest in Herodotus as an effective and creative historian within a predominantly oral tradition has been a feature of prolific research during the last twenty years. In the very year in which the arrival of the 1820 settlers in the east of the former Cape Colony in South Africa is being remembered, and even
commemorated, I attempt a reading of Herodotus’ celebrated account of the Greek colonization of Cyrene in Libya (North Africa) through the historiographical lens of accounts of the arrival of these British settlers, focussing on the narratives of colonization common to these exempla more than two millennia apart. My intention is
to continue the conversation, especially amongst South African classicists, about how to tackle the thorny question of decolonizing the content and teaching of the Classics in our universities.

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Governing settlers and nonsettlers on the move: Christopher Szaba, Governing Global Migration: Internationalism, Colonialism, and Mass Mobility, 1850-1980, PhD dissertation, Cornell University, 2020

16Mar21

Abstract: This dissertation traces the history of the governance of global migration at the level of international law and institutions. Situated at the intersection of international and global history, it argues that national immigration and emigration histories, as well as histories of subsets of migratory populations, such as refugees, can only be understood in the context of a broader international migration governance – showing how international plans, treaties, and institutions concerning migration emerged in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the significance of their changing treatments of European and non-European migrants. In doing so, it makes interventions into the history of sovereignty by demonstrating how the role of states within migration governance changed over time, the role of expertise in international law and global governance, the agency of non-European states in the history of international legal and institutional development as opposed to the role of European empires, and the evolution and development of the conceptions of freedom and rights, among others, ultimately demonstrating that the relative lack of an international migration governance in the present day is not a consequence of its having never existed or having been effective, but a consequence of earlier schemes’ character. In the nineteenth century, the dissertation shows, international migration governance arose to address concerns over disease control and the similar risks taken by European and Asian emigrants. Yet after Europe’s devastation in the world wars, migration structures which were proposed and arose primarily benefited European states that sought population “outlets” as a means to participate in demographic expansion beyond the continent: an internationalized form of settler colonialism. Many non-European migrants, meanwhile, lacked similar assistance or only enjoyed lesser protections. Settler schemes were welcomed by Latin American states and, to a lesser extent, British Dominions, which viewed them as bringing security and developmental benefits. Disagreement among states and experts limited the extent and implementation of the schemes, yet were not fatal to them. Still, their focus on European emigration, the dissertation concludes, ultimately prevented these schemes and institutions from overseeing and planning most migration that originated outside of Europe, a legacy continuing to undermine migration governance today.

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Settler colonialism on display (not): Kelly Black, ‘Explaining settlers to ourselves’, British Columbia Historical Federation, 04/03/21

16Mar21

Excerpt: I bring visitors to this sign because it’s significant — not for what it tells us about Peter O’Reilly or his home but for what it leaves out. Every job O’Reilly ever had with the colonial and provincial governments is listed on the plaque — except for his 18 years as Indian Reserve Commissioner. From 1880 to 1898, O’Reilly acted on behalf of the Federal and Provincial governments to set out, eliminate, reduce, or, in some cases, expand Indian Reserves across the province. Of the more than 600 reserves in BC, O’Reilly had a role in nearly all of them. The omission of O’Reilly’s time as Indian Reserve Commissioner at a provincial heritage site and on a Stop of Interest sign was not simply an oversight or mistake; it was by design. Interpretive and programming documents from the last few decades regularly omitted O’Reilly’s influence on the colonial geography of the province. Instead, past managers and curators focused on the domestic space, on privileging romantic narratives of Victorian-era courtship, afternoon tea, and roses. The idea that colonization was inevitable, is complete, and is disconnected from the everyday life of settlers remains a pervasive and troubling narrative in BC and Canada.

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Settler colonialism against the ‘more than human’: Irus Braverman, ‘Environmental justice, settler colonialism, and more-than-humans in the occupied West Bank: An introduction’, Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 2021

16Mar21

Abstract: Our special issue provides a first-of-its kind attempt to examine environmental injustices in the occupied West Bank through interdisciplinary perspectives, pointing to the broader settler colonial and neoliberal contexts within which they occur and to their more-than-human implications. Specifically, we seek to understand what environmental justice—a movement originating from, and rooted in, the United States—means in the context of Palestine/Israel. Moving beyond the settler-native dialectic, we draw attention to the more-than-human flows that occur in the region—which include water, air, waste, cement, trees, donkeys, watermelons, and insects—to consider the dynamic, and often gradational, meanings of frontier, enclosure, and Indigeneity in the West Bank, challenging the all-too-binary assumptions at the core of settler colonialism. Against the backdrop of the settler colonial project of territorial dispossession and elimination, we illuminate the infrastructural connections and disruptions among lives and matter in the West Bank, interpreting these through the lens of environmental justice. We finally ask what forms of ecological decolonization might emerge from this landscape of accumulating waste, concrete, and ruin. Such alternative visions that move beyond the single axis of settler-native enable the emergence of more nuanced, and even hopeful, ecological imaginaries that focus on sumud, dignity, and recognition.

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