Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 2014
Our goal in this article is to intervene and disrupt current contentious debates regarding the pr... more Our goal in this article is to intervene and disrupt current contentious debates regarding the predominant lines of inquiry bourgeoning in settler colonial studies, the use of ‘settler’, and the politics of building solidarities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. Settler colonial studies, ‘settler’, and solidarity, then, operate as the central themes of this paper. While somewhat jarring, our assessment of the debates is interspersed with our discussions in their original form, as we seek to explore possible lines of solidarity, accountability, and relationality to one another and to decolonization struggles both locally and globally. Our overall conclusion is that without centering Indigenous peoples’ articulations, without deploying a relational approach to settler colonial power, and without paying attention to the conditions and contingency of settler colonialism, studies of settler colonialism and practices of solidarity run the risk of reifying (and possibly replicating) settler colonial as well as other modes of domination.
n celebrating the epistemological reform and empowerment of non-white peoples in the academy, we ... more n celebrating the epistemological reform and empowerment of non-white peoples in the academy, we propose a manifesto that seeks to dislodge the complacencies within Sikh Studies and within Sikh communities, and invite non-Sikhs to engage with radical Sikhi social justice. By dwelling at feminist intersections of postcolonial studies, decolonial studies, and decolonization studies, we are inspired to share the radical possibilities of Sikh Studies, and we also urge Sikh Studies and Sikh people to inhabit an explicit political orientation of insurrection and subversion. Importantly, such a feminist decolonial orientation may well hold promise for other fields of study on the margins as well. In particular, we foreground eight points of action: gendering Sikh Studies; de-policing intimate desire and the diversity of relationships; disrupting Eurocentric knowledge production; de-territorializing diasporas; challenging caste politics; disrupting Islamophobia; undoing our roles in contemp...
ABSTRACT In this paper, I propose a critical approach that attunes attention to networks that con... more ABSTRACT In this paper, I propose a critical approach that attunes attention to networks that connect forms and degrees of Othering, refusals of Otherness, and formations of dominance. I call these networks processes of “relational Othering.” Drawing from anti-racist praxis, critical race feminism, Indigenous studies, and postcolonial theory, I propose three lines of inquiry to critically track relational Othering. I then apply the tool of relational Othering to a contemporary case study of the relations between particular Indigenous nations, Chinese temporary workers, and the Canadian state over liquefied natural gas development. This case study illustrates that relational Othering provides a way to evaluate multiple systems of rule and control that operate for the purposes of variously governing subjugated Others.
The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, 2016
In settler societies like Canada, United States, and Australia, the bourgeoning discourse that fr... more In settler societies like Canada, United States, and Australia, the bourgeoning discourse that frames colonial violence against Indigenous people as genocide has been controversial, specifically because there is much debate about the meaning and applicability of genocide. Through an analysis of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, this paper analyzes what is revealed about settler colonialism in the nexus of difficult knowledge, curatorial decisions, and political debates about the label of genocide. I specifically examine competing definitions of genocide, the primacy of the Holocaust, the regulatory role of the settler state, and the limits of a human rights framework. My argument is that genocide debates related to Indigenous experiences operationalize a range of governing techniques that extend settler colonialism, even as Indigenous peoples confront existing hegemonies. These techniques include: interpretative denial; promoting an Oppression Olympics and a politics of distanci...
Gal, Susan, and Gail Kligman. 2000. The Politics of Gender after Socialism. Princeton, NJ: Prince... more Gal, Susan, and Gail Kligman. 2000. The Politics of Gender after Socialism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Gross, Barry. 1977. Reverse Discrimination. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus. Khanna, Ranjana. 2001. “Ethical Ambiguities and the Specters of Colonialism: Futures of Transnational Feminism.” In Feminist Consequences: Theory for a New Century, edited by Elisabeth Bronfen and Misha Kavka, 101–125. New York: Columbia University Press. Smith, Anne Marie. 2007. Welfare Reform and Sexual Regulation. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
This article identifies five key considerations for adopting and mainstreaming intersectionality:... more This article identifies five key considerations for adopting and mainstreaming intersectionality: the language and concepts that are used; the complexities of difference and how to navigate this complexity; the choice of focusing on identities, categories, processes, and/or systems; the model that is used to explain and describe mutually constituted differences; and the principles that determine which interactions are analyzed. The author argues that in the process of mainstreaming intersectionality, it is crucial to frame it as a form of social critique so as to foreground its radical capacity to attend to and disrupt oppressive vehicles of power. Keywords intersectionality, feminism, matrix, critique Over recent decades, the study of multiple, co-constituted differences has taken a strong hold in strands of femi-nism under the rubric of intersectionality. Intersectional-ity, as Ange-Marie Hancock (2007, 63) recently noted, is not simply a normative-theoretical argument but also a ...
Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 2014
Our goal in this article is to intervene and disrupt current contentious debates regarding the pr... more Our goal in this article is to intervene and disrupt current contentious debates regarding the predominant lines of inquiry bourgeoning in settler colonial studies, the use of ‘settler’, and the politics of building solidarities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. Settler colonial studies, ‘settler’, and solidarity, then, operate as the central themes of this paper. While somewhat jarring, our assessment of the debates is interspersed with our discussions in their original form, as we seek to explore possible lines of solidarity, accountability, and relationality to one another and to decolonization struggles both locally and globally. Our overall conclusion is that without centering Indigenous peoples’ articulations, without deploying a relational approach to settler colonial power, and without paying attention to the conditions and contingency of settler colonialism, studies of settler colonialism and practices of solidarity run the risk of reifying (and possibly replicating) settler colonial as well as other modes of domination.
n celebrating the epistemological reform and empowerment of non-white peoples in the academy, we ... more n celebrating the epistemological reform and empowerment of non-white peoples in the academy, we propose a manifesto that seeks to dislodge the complacencies within Sikh Studies and within Sikh communities, and invite non-Sikhs to engage with radical Sikhi social justice. By dwelling at feminist intersections of postcolonial studies, decolonial studies, and decolonization studies, we are inspired to share the radical possibilities of Sikh Studies, and we also urge Sikh Studies and Sikh people to inhabit an explicit political orientation of insurrection and subversion. Importantly, such a feminist decolonial orientation may well hold promise for other fields of study on the margins as well. In particular, we foreground eight points of action: gendering Sikh Studies; de-policing intimate desire and the diversity of relationships; disrupting Eurocentric knowledge production; de-territorializing diasporas; challenging caste politics; disrupting Islamophobia; undoing our roles in contemp...
ABSTRACT In this paper, I propose a critical approach that attunes attention to networks that con... more ABSTRACT In this paper, I propose a critical approach that attunes attention to networks that connect forms and degrees of Othering, refusals of Otherness, and formations of dominance. I call these networks processes of “relational Othering.” Drawing from anti-racist praxis, critical race feminism, Indigenous studies, and postcolonial theory, I propose three lines of inquiry to critically track relational Othering. I then apply the tool of relational Othering to a contemporary case study of the relations between particular Indigenous nations, Chinese temporary workers, and the Canadian state over liquefied natural gas development. This case study illustrates that relational Othering provides a way to evaluate multiple systems of rule and control that operate for the purposes of variously governing subjugated Others.
The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, 2016
In settler societies like Canada, United States, and Australia, the bourgeoning discourse that fr... more In settler societies like Canada, United States, and Australia, the bourgeoning discourse that frames colonial violence against Indigenous people as genocide has been controversial, specifically because there is much debate about the meaning and applicability of genocide. Through an analysis of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, this paper analyzes what is revealed about settler colonialism in the nexus of difficult knowledge, curatorial decisions, and political debates about the label of genocide. I specifically examine competing definitions of genocide, the primacy of the Holocaust, the regulatory role of the settler state, and the limits of a human rights framework. My argument is that genocide debates related to Indigenous experiences operationalize a range of governing techniques that extend settler colonialism, even as Indigenous peoples confront existing hegemonies. These techniques include: interpretative denial; promoting an Oppression Olympics and a politics of distanci...
Gal, Susan, and Gail Kligman. 2000. The Politics of Gender after Socialism. Princeton, NJ: Prince... more Gal, Susan, and Gail Kligman. 2000. The Politics of Gender after Socialism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Gross, Barry. 1977. Reverse Discrimination. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus. Khanna, Ranjana. 2001. “Ethical Ambiguities and the Specters of Colonialism: Futures of Transnational Feminism.” In Feminist Consequences: Theory for a New Century, edited by Elisabeth Bronfen and Misha Kavka, 101–125. New York: Columbia University Press. Smith, Anne Marie. 2007. Welfare Reform and Sexual Regulation. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
This article identifies five key considerations for adopting and mainstreaming intersectionality:... more This article identifies five key considerations for adopting and mainstreaming intersectionality: the language and concepts that are used; the complexities of difference and how to navigate this complexity; the choice of focusing on identities, categories, processes, and/or systems; the model that is used to explain and describe mutually constituted differences; and the principles that determine which interactions are analyzed. The author argues that in the process of mainstreaming intersectionality, it is crucial to frame it as a form of social critique so as to foreground its radical capacity to attend to and disrupt oppressive vehicles of power. Keywords intersectionality, feminism, matrix, critique Over recent decades, the study of multiple, co-constituted differences has taken a strong hold in strands of femi-nism under the rubric of intersectionality. Intersectional-ity, as Ange-Marie Hancock (2007, 63) recently noted, is not simply a normative-theoretical argument but also a ...
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Papers by Rita Dhamoon