Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition

Posted on 20 December 2018 by Glen Sean Coulthard

Over the past forty years, recognition has become the dominant mode of negotiation and decolonization between the nation state and Indigenous nations in North America The term recognition shapes debates over Indigenous cultural distinctiveness, Indigenous rights to land and self government, and Indigenous peoples right to benefit from the development of their lands and resources.In a work of critically engaged political theory, Glen Sean Coulthard challenges recognition as a method of organizing difference and identity in liberal politics, questioning the assumption that contemporary difference and past histories of destructive colonialism between the state and Indigenous peoples can be reconciled through a process of acknowledgment Beyond this, Coulthard examines an alternative politics one that seeks to revalue, reconstruct, and redeploy Indigenous cultural practices based on self recognition rather than on seeking appreciation from the very agents of colonialism.Coulthard demonstrates how a place based modification of Karl Marx s theory of primitive accumulation throws light on Indigenous state relations in settler colonial contexts and how Frantz Fanon s critique of colonial recognition shows that this relationship reproduces itself over time This framework strengthens his exploration of the ways that the politics of recognition has come to serve the interests of settler colonial power.In addressing the core tenets of Indigenous resistance movements, like Red Power and Idle No More, Coulthard offers fresh insights into the politics of active decolonization. Read Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition by Glen Sean Coulthard – kino-fada.fr This is one of the most important and ground breaking books on Indigenous politics I have ever read, and its one of handful of books Ill read over and over Red Skin, White Masks interrogates the states continued structural commitment to Indigenous dispossession and self determination by critiquing recognition based approaches to reconciliation But Coulthard doesnt stop there By bringing forth new interventions to the works of Marx and Fanon rooted in Indigenous understandings, Red Skin, White This is one of the most important and ground breaking books on Indigenous politics I have ever read, and it s one of handful of books I ll read over and over Red Skin, White Masks interrogates the state s continued structural commitment to Indigenous dispossession and self determination by critiquing recognition based approaches to reconciliation But Coulthard doesn t stop there By bringing forth new interventions to the works of Marx and Fanon rooted in Indigenous understandings, Red Skin, White Masks shatters the core assumptions of mainstream Aboriginal politics and the politics of recognition Through his brilliant multi faceted analysis, Coulthard charts a clear course towards just relations between Canada and Indigenous nations outside the political strategies of the past More importantly Red Skin, White Masks resonates with me as an Indigenous woman It...For Indigenous nations to live, capitalism must die And for capitalism to die, we must actively participate in the construction of Indigenous alternatives to it For Indigenous nations to live, capitalism must die And for capita...I really want this to be a 4.5 stars, and the reason it s not five probably has to dowith my own inability to understand Marx and Fanon than the book itself This was a really great and oddly smooth read, especially once I got out of the introduction where Coulthard lays out the heavy theoretical work and really gets into the meat of the book Each chapter is laid out really neatly, which I appreciate a lot as a graduate student, and though Coulthard s argument is pretty heavy in both...I admit that the first chapter was a drag for me and felt quite theoretical I feel like without some background knowledge this book could be difficult to grasp That said it was a very interesting and smooth read after that The author really goes into details to explain and support his views without being repetitive What I liked the most was that it offered a different view and challenged the current state of affairs I also quite enjoyed the fact that the book drew knowledge from other I admit that the first chapter was a drag for me and felt quite theoretical I feel like without some background knowledge t...Compelling arguments and examples to transform the reality.those struggling against colonialism must turn away from the colonial state and society and instead find in their own decolonial praxisthe source of their liberation.our cultural practices have much to offer regarding the establishment of relationships within and between peoples and the natural world built on principles of reciprocity and respectful coexistencethe ethic of reciprocity and sharing underlying Dene understandings of their Compelling arguments and examples to transform the reality those struggling against colonialism must turn away from the colonial state and society and instead find in their own decolonial praxisthe source of their liberation our cultural practices have much to offer regarding the establishment of relationships within and between peoples and the natural world built on principles of reciprocity and respectful coexistence the ethic of reciprocity and sharing underlying Dene understandings of their relationship with land this relational conception of identity was nonnegotiable it also demanded that we conduct ourselves in accordance with certain ethico political norms sharing, egalitarianism, respect obligations the reason the Crown agreed to get into the land claims business in the fi...Among the heavy and detestable slur of those onerous voices advocating recognition, recognition history is getting better as if Hegelian progress were a matter of the state s inevitable good graces , Coulthard s intervention is a sharp, refreshing call What do liberal recognition and toleration mean if not accompanied by redistribution Why make recourse to the increasingly expert indigenous legislative appeal when, historically, they make little material difference Spurred on by the Idle Among the heavy and detestable slur of those onerous voices advocating recognition, recognition history is getting better as if Hegelian progress were a matter of the state s inevitable good graces , Coulthard s intervention is a sharp, refreshing call What do liberal recognition and toleration mean if not accompanied by redistribution Why make recourse to the increasingly expert indigenous legislative appeal when, historically, they make little material diffe...Good message Giving three stars because I really dont think its accessible to the lay public and if we want to begin movements for rupturing the colonial system, this kind of message needs to be heard outside the walls...I thought that this book was so insightful that I had to seek the author out, take a class by him, and host a podcast interviewing him The book is a very careful reading of Fanon, Marx, and a few other revolutionary thinkers in the context of Canada s colonialism against indigenous people On the latter, the author is incredibly w...Read this book if you want a contemporary application of Marxist and Fanonian theories within an Indigenous State, Settler Colonial context It will give you a powerful critique of the politics of recognition and a v...I am very glad to have found this book it provides such clarity to the flaws surrounding the at least perceived dominant discourse of Aboriginal politics activism Coulthard lays out his thesis that the politics of recognition will always fail to break away from the subjugation of the settler state as the terms of recognition will be at the behest of that state They will always have diametrically opposed interests the state beholden to the needs of the capitalist mode of production, and the I am very glad to have found this book it provides such clarity to the flaws surrounding the at least perceived dominant discourse of Aboriginal politics activism Coulthard lays out his thesis that the politics of recognition will always fail to break away from the subjugation of the settler state as the terms of recognition will be at the behest of that state They will always have diametrically opposed interests the state beholden to the needs of the capitalist mode of production, and the indigenous that seek autonomy by access to their land rights It used to go without saying that collaborating with the state apparatus had very limited...

Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition

English
20 December 2018

Glen Sean Coulthard