Settler
Identity and Colonialism in 21st Century Canada
Description
Canada has never had an “Indian problem” but it does have a Settler problem. Through an engaging, and sometimes enraging, look at the relationships between Canada and Indigenous nations, the authors explain that being Settler means understanding that Canada is 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. 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.
Reviews
“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. ”
- — Lorenzo Veracini, associate professor of history and politics, Swinburne University of Technology, author of Settler Colonialism