Settler

Identity and Colonialism in 21st Century Canada

by Emma Battell Lowman and Adam J. Barker  

Canada has never had an “Indian problem”— but it does have a Settler problem. But what does it mean to be Settler? And why does it matter?

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  • October 2015
  • ISBN: 9781552667781
  • 158 pages
  • $22.00
  • For sale worldwide
  • EPUB December 2015
  • ISBN: 9781552667798
  • $21.99
  • For sale worldwide
  • Kindle December 2015
  • ISBN: 9781552668719
  • $18.99
  • For sale worldwide

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About the book

Through an engaging, and sometimes enraging, look at the relationships between Canada and Indigenous nations, Settler: Identity and Colonialism in 21st Century Canada explains what it means to be Settler and argues that accepting this identity is an important first step towards changing those relationships. Being Settler means understanding that Canada is deeply entangled in the violence of colonialism, and that this colonialism and pervasive violence continue to define contemporary political, economic and cultural life in Canada. It also means accepting our responsibility to struggle for change. Settler offers important ways forward — ways to decolonize relationships between Settler Canadians and Indigenous peoples — so that we can find new ways of being on the land, together.

This book presents a serious challenge. It offers no easy road, and lets no one off the hook. It will unsettle, but only to help Settler people find a pathway for transformative change, one that prepares us to imagine and move towards just and beneficial relationships with Indigenous nations. And this way forward may mean leaving much of what we know as Canada behind.

Canadian Studies Indigenous Resistance & Decolonization Sociology

What people are saying

— Lorenzo Veracini, associate professor of history and politics,  Swinburne University of Technology, author of Settler Colonialism

“Both callous and empathetic approaches to indigenous dysfunction have always focused on the Indian ‘problem.’ And yet, settler colonialism as a mode of domination is fundamentally constituted by the unequal relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous collectives. This book finally focuses on the real ‘problem.’ It was hidden in plain sight all along: the settler.”

Authors

Emma Battell Lowman

Emma Battell Lowman is a Settler Canadian originally from the overlapping territories of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe Peoples, near Niagara Falls, Ontario. Emma holds a PhD in sociology from the University of Warwick (UK) and an MA in history from the University of Victoria and has worked and lectured for colleges and universities across Canada and the UK. Her work focuses on Indigenous-Settler histories in British Columbia, settler colonialism, Indigenous resurgence, and decolonization in North America, and the history of crime and punishment in Britain.

Adam J. Barker

Adam Barker is a Settler Canadian, born and raised in the territories of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe Peoples in what is presently Hamilton, Ontario. He is a researcher, educator, and activist on settler colonialism, racism, and decolonization. His passion for confronting colonialism and supporting Indigenous liberation was sparked by visits to Six Nations of the Grand River as part of the Indigenous Studies Program at McMaster University. Adam holds a PhD in human geography from the University of Leicester and an MA in Indigenous Governance from the University of Victoria.

Contents

  • “Forever” by Janet Rogers
  • Introduction: Why Say Settler
  • Canada and Settler Colonialism
  • It’s Always All About the Land
  • “Settling” Our Differences
  • Fear, Complicity and Productive Discomfort
  • Decolonization and Dangerous Freedom
  • References

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