settler colonial studies blog

The genres of Indigenous survival: Jade Jenkinson, ‘From Indigenous Gothic to Indigenous Futurisms: Charting generic decay and renewal’, Literature, Critique, and Empire Today, 2026

18Feb26

Abstract: This article investigates the capacity for genre fiction to function as a site for decolonial and politically transgressive storytelling through an examination of the emergence and evolution of “Indigenous Gothic” and “Indigenous Futurisms.” I trace the definition and development of each genre and interrogate how these labels arise through an active dialogue shaped by creative works, political activism, market trends, and critical inputs. Rather than viewing Indigenous Futurisms as a replacement of the Indigenous Gothic, the article argues that Futurisms expand and exceed the Gothic’s parameters, absorbing and recontextualizing Gothic tropes while unsettling expectations informed by Western genre conventions. Drawing on a decolonial comparative approach that foregrounds Indigenous scholarly perspectives, the article closes with a close reading of Brandon Hobson’s The Removed (2021) to illustrate both the generic shift proposed and the ways Indigenous genre fiction provides a flexible mode for articulating what Dillon (2007) terms “practical humanism,” through its engagement with tropes from both genres to explore historical and contemporary concerns. The article contends that decoloniality is central to the evolution in genre, demonstrating how Indigenous authors redefine and extend the possibilities of genre through Indigenous methodological and epistemological frameworks.

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The landscape of settler colonialism: Eileen Crist, ‘Landscape meditations: Native versus colonist’, The Ecological Citizen, 9, 1, 2026, pp. 3-10

18Feb26

Excerpt: How can people be so insensitive to the dignity and independence of landscape?” author John O’Donahue asked (2010: 134). By people, he did not mean all human beings nor was he calling our attention to human nature. O’Donahue was talking about the human as “lord of creation” possessed by “luciferian pride” (ibid.). He was talking about the human identity gone global: the Earth settler colonialist.

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Health and connectedness are associated (another scoping review): Simran Brar, Albert Ben, Maria B. Ospina, ‘The association between cultural connectedness and health-related quality of life among Indigenous peoples in the CANZUS countries: a systematic review’, BMC Public Health, 2026

18Feb26

Abstract: Background: Cultural connectedness–the extent to which individuals feel connected to their culture through practices, language, traditions, and identity– is increasingly recognized as a key determinant of health among Indigenous peoples across the life course. High levels of cultural connectedness have been associated with improved health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Although several studies have examined this relationship, the evidence has not yet been comprehensively synthesized. Methods: A comprehensive search of six databases was conducted from database inception to June 2024. Searches were updated up to September 2025 to identify observational studies examining associations between cultural connectedness and HRQoL, mental health, or physical health among Indigenous populations in Australia, Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand, and the United States. Two independent reviewers conducted screening, data extraction and risk of bias assessment. Risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for cohort studies and its adapted version for cross-sectional studies. Effect direction plots and vote counting were used for synthesis. Results: From 7,444, records, 12 studies met the inclusion criteria (Canada n = 3; Australia n = 1; Aotearoa New Zealand n = 3; United States n = 5). Studies examined HRQoL (n = 2), mental health/well-being (n = 9) and physical health (n = 4), and included infants (n = 1), youth (n = 2), adults (n = 7), and Elders (n = 2). For HRQoL, one study reported a positive association with cultural connectedness and one reported no evidence of association. For mental health-well-being, three studies reported positive associations and six reported no evidence of association. For physical health, three studies reported positive associations and one reported no evidence of association. Conclusions: Across countries with similar histories of colonialism, evidence suggests that cultural connectedness may be associated with better physical health and, for some Indigenous populations, better mental health/well-being. Evidence for mental health/well-being and HRQoL remains less consistent across studies. Further research using culturally grounded measures and rigorous designs is needed to strengthen the evidence base and inform culturally responsive policies and programs that support Indigenous health and well-being across the life course.

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Indigenous children under settler colonialism (a scoping review): Akilew Awoke Adane, Tracy Reibel, Ailsa Munns, Carrington C. J. Shepherd, Helen Doreen Bailey, Fiona Stanley, Rhonda Marriott, ‘Child Development Interventions Among Indigenous Peoples in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States: A Scoping Review’, Children, 13, 2, 2026, #252

18Feb26

Abstract: Background: Children’s development is dependent on a range of factors influencing their life course outcomes. Protective and challenging social and cultural determinants impact how Indigenous families support their children’s developmental foundations. However, there is a lack of international evidence investigating Indigenous child development interventions. To gain a perspective across nations with comparable settler-colonial histories, this scoping review summarised studies on family and community-centred approaches among Indigenous populations in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States, focusing on outcomes and evidence gaps. Methods: A scoping review followed PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Medline, CINAHL, and PsycINFO (Ovid) were searched from their inception to October 2025, including grey literature sources from Aboriginal HealthInfoNet, the Lowitja Institute and the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care. Empirical studies, including quantitative, mixed-methods, evaluation studies, and descriptive or case-study designs, were included provided they reported empirical data on intervention outcomes. Due to study heterogeneity, data were synthesised narratively. Results: Following screening of 2355 records, eight from 2013 to 2020 met the inclusion criteria. These were mostly small-scale, non-randomising designs evaluating different interventions, with the behavioural and emotional domain being the most frequently assessed outcome, alongside developmental vulnerability and academic/educational areas. There was limited consideration of protective cultural determinants of health in the study design and implementation. Six studies reported positive associations between interventions or programmes and early childhood development outcomes. Conclusions: While the number and rigour of identified interventions were limited, several demonstrated potential benefits for Indigenous children’s early childhood development. However, strengthening the evidence base requires culturally grounded, adequately powered evaluations using rigorous study designs that include culturally co-designed adaptations conducted with Indigenous families and communities. Support is recommended for capacity building and funding.

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West of the Western (and a bit south too, and still bloody settler colonial): Brian McFarlane, Outback: Westerns in Australian Cinema, Intellect, 2026

18Feb26

Description: A study of the role of the Western film genre in Australia’s changing political and cultural landscape. Focusing on the influence of the cinematic Western in Australian cinema history, Outback explores how the American genre has been adapted to the changing Australian social, political, and cultural contexts of their production, including the shifting emphases in the representation of the Indigenous population. Brian McFarlane emphasizes the ways film can, without didacticism, provide evidence of changing politics and culture. McFarlane explores Australian history with the genre by analyzing such films as Charles Tait’s 1906 The Story of the Kelly Gang and Justin Kurzel’s 2020 adaptation of Peter Carey’s The True History of the Kelly Gang. He further explores other key matters, including the changing attitudes to and representation of Indigenous peoples and of women’s roles in Australian Westerns. Brian McFarlane is adjunct professor in the Department of Media and Communications at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. He is the editor of The Encylopedia of British Film and coeditor of The Oxford Companion to Australian Film, among others.

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With a chapter by Zahi Zalloua: ‘Critique of Indigenous Reason: The Case of Palestine’, in P. Khalil Saucier (ed.), Practices of Disciplinary Refusal for New Futures: On Critique and Humanism, Bloomsbury, 2026

18Feb26

Access the chapter here.

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Settler colonialism’s moving image: María Guadalupe Arenillas, ‘North-South Filmmaking, Settler Colonialism, and Indigenous Resurgences’, JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, 65, 2, 2025, pp. 150-156

17Feb26

Excerpt: While film and photography have traditionally played a part in the extermination of Indigenous peoples and in their misleading representations, Indigenous filmmaking (also known as Fourth Cinema) activates a gaze that centers on Native perspectives, brings awareness to imbalanced filmic practices, and contributes to projects of sovereignty.

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The hostile environments of settler colonialism: R. Anna Hayward, Rohini Guin, Noura Kiridly, Ariek Barakat Norford, Julian Maceren, Narmin Mekawy, Christine Wang, ‘Settler Colonialism, Ecocide, and the Climate Crisis in Occupied Palestine: Environmental Injustice, Health Inequities, and the Imperative for Public Health Social Work’, Social Work in Public Health, 2026

17Feb26

Abstract: Environmental devastation in occupied Palestine is a direct outcome of settler colonialism, which systematically dispossesses Indigenous Palestinians of land, resources, and sovereignty. Land confiscation, water diversion, and the deliberate destruction of native species constitute forms of ecocide that exacerbates economic inequality and worsen public health crises, including food and water insecurity, toxic exposure, disease, and prolonged displacement. The climate crisis is further intensified by military activities, including the prolonged bombing of Gaza, which devastate ecosystems, deplete fisheries, erode coastlines and arable land. This paper examines the intersection of settler colonialism, environmental degradation, and health inequities in occupied Palestine, emphasizing how olive grove destruction, land and water contamination, and military violence produce direct social and health harms for an already oppressed population. We call for public health social work to advance environmental justice, health equity, and decolonial practices through advocacy, global solidarity, and centering Indigenous Palestinian voices.

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Settler colonialism’s geography: Isaac Rivera, ‘Settler Colonialism, GeoMedia, and the Geographical Imaginary’, The Professional Geographer, 2026

17Feb26

Abstract: Geographical imaginaries are always in a state of struggle, rooted in logics of exception, dispossession, and radical possibility. This article connects the theoretical, methodological, and political uses of geographical imaginaries to geomedia, connecting their coconstituted entanglements in settler-colonialism and role in maintaining settler-colonial hegemony. In doing so, the author traces the ideological roots of geomedia and their role in animating geographical imaginaries, making visible the ways social movements challenge and refuse settler-colonial imaginaries head on. The article concludes with a discussion on the use of countermedia by Real Change News Paper and the Mestaa’ėhehe Coalition, to enact what Katz termed topographies of hope, reorienting sociospatial relations and geographical imaginaries toward liberatory futures.

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False opposition (the settler colonial scissors): Elian Weizman, Sai Englert, ‘Brothers in Arms: liberal genocide and intra-settler conflict in Israel’, Race & Class, 2026

17Feb26

Abstract: This article examines the ongoing genocide in Gaza as a culmination of long-standing Zionist settler-colonial practices, arguing that the apparent internal divisions within Israeli society obscure a deeper structural unity. It contends that these dynamics are better understood as generative tensions within a unified colonial project. Drawing on genocide studies, settler-colonial theory and political developments since October 2023, the article shows that liberal and illiberal Zionists have acted in concert to execute and justify mass violence against Palestinians. The liberal camp’s discourse of ‘permanent security’, rooted in assumptions of Palestinian collective guilt, pre-emptive violence and existential paranoia, has played a crucial role in legitimising genocide both domestically and internationally. Far from opposing the genocide in Gaza, liberal Zionists have supported it and participated in its execution – both ideologically and practically, many taking an active role in its execution as reservists. This collaboration between the different wings of the Zionist movement is not new, and historically, liberal Zionists led campaigns of dispossession and mass killing, notably in 1948 and 1967. The article argues that the internal conflict within Israeli society is not over the ethics of domination, but over its methods and the need to legitimise it internationally. Accordingly, conflicts between liberal and illiberal Zionism are generative and act as a Elian Weizman is a senior lecturer in international relations at London South Bank University. Sai Englert is a lecturer at the Leiden Institute of Area Studies. 1416705 RAC Race & ClassWeizman and EnglertBrothers in Arms 2 Race & Class 00(0) mechanism for settler-colonial endurance and expansion. By foregrounding the co-constitutive nature of liberal and illiberal genocidal practices, this piece offers a critical framework for understanding the present moment and the longue durée of Zionist violence.

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