An unflinching examination of the impacts of settler colonialism from first contact to the contemporary nation state. On Settler Colonialism in Canada: Lands and Peoples is the first installment in a comprehensive collection investigating settler colonialism as a state mandate, a structuring logic of institutions, and an alibi for violence and death. The book examines how settler identities are fashioned in opposition to nature and how eras of settler colonialism have come to be defined. Scholars and thinkers explore how settlers understood themselves as servants of empire, how settler identities came to be predicated on racialization and white supremacy, and more recently, how they have been constructed in relation to multiculturalism. Featuring perspectives from Indigenous, Black, mixed-race, and other racialized, queer, and white European-descended thinkers from across a range of disciplines, On Settler Colonialism in Canada: Lands and Peoples addresses the fundamental truths of this country. Essays engage contemporary questions on the legacy of displacement that settler colonialism has wrought for Indigenous people and racialized settlers caught up in the global implications of empire. Asserting that reconciliation is a shared endeavor, the collection's final section exposes the myth at the heart of Canada's constitutional legitimacy and describes the importance of affirming Indigenous rights, protecting Indigenous people (especially women) from systemic violence, and holding the Canadian settler nation state--which has benefited from the creation and maintenance of genocidal institutions for generations--accountable.
David B. A. MacDonald is an Indo-Trinidadian and Scottish political science professor at the University of Guelph and was previously on faculty at the University of Otago, Aotearoa (New Zealand). He was raised in Regina, Saskatchewan, on Treaty 4 territory. Emily Grafton is of Metis ancestry, raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and an Associate Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of Regina (Saskatchewan).
""A thought-provoking and insightful 'must read' for all those seeking reconciliation based on truth, justice, and accountability.""--Paulette Regan, author of Unsettling the Settler Within and former research director for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada ""Positive shared futures with all our relations depend on perpetual truth-telling and (re)conciliation. This book guides us through the dark and toward the light.""--David Garneau, author of Dark Chapters ""Remarkable...likely to become a landmark reference work for scholars and interested individuals alike.""--Lorenzo Veracini, author of Colonialism: A Global History ""The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off! That observation best describes the power of this fabulous book that every Canadian should read.""--Val Napoleon, Professor and Law Foundation Chair of Indigenous Justice and Governance, University of Victoria
