[nativestudies-l] Conditions of Settler Colonialism symposium

[jkauanui at wesleyan.edu]

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              CONDITIONS OF SETTLER COLONIALISM

An interdisciplinary symposium at the University of
Chicago, 25/26 April 2008
Location: Wilder House, 5811 S. Kenwood, Chicago, IL 60637

In many settler societies in recent decades, indigenous
people, states and settler communities have become embroiled
in deeply felt political arguments about the effects of
settler colonialism in the present and what new futures might
bring.  Scholars, too, have become involved in these debates.
 In the wake of these arguments and interventions, this
symposium aims to develop collaborative and comparative
theories of settler colonialism.  Scholars in anthropology,
history, indigenous studies, American and Australian studies,
law, and political theory will explore questions that include:
 Does using the rubric of settler colonialism help us to
better understand relations between indigenous and
non-indigenous peoples, and what might it occlude?  In what
ways does settler colonialism condition peoples and
populations?  Conversely, what are its everyday conditions?
Are there specific settler logics, political formations, and
economies that can be analyzed across domains (e.g.,
cosmopolitan or immigrant) that may not initially appear to be
“settler colonial”?  If indigeneity and settler colonialism
cannot entirely be reduced to their relationship, how might we
account for their relational excesses and respective sovereign
spaces?

With attention to indigeneity, this symposium centers on
Anglophone settler societies in Australia, Canada, New
Zealand, and the United States.  At the same time, we will
query the geographical and conceptual boundaries of settler
coloniality by including participants from South Africa, South
Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.  The symposium’s
purpose is to foster conversation among scholars who have
approached shared questions from diverse disciplinary,
national, and political traditions.

Speakers include:

Christopher Andersen * Bain Attwood * Christopher Bracken *
Jessica Cattelino * Dipesh Chakrabarty * Raymond Fogelson *
Aroha Harris * Fred Hoxie * J.Kehaulani Kauanui * Stuart
Macintyre * Elizabeth Povinelli *Amanda Macdonald * Aileen
Moreton-Robinson * Audra Simpson * Stephen Turner

Sponsored by:
Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory
Franke Institute for the Humanities; Center for Gender
Studies; Harris Fund in International Studies; Native American
Students Association; Department of Anthropology; Department
of History; Nicholson Center for British Studies; Human Rights
Program

More information on the symposium, including how to register,
is available at: http://ccct.uchicago.edu/settler.html