Refusal, Resurgence, Renewal: Indigenous Independence in the 21st Century

On International Women's Day come along to hear a panel of female Indigenous scholars - a first for the University of Melbourne. Convened by the Indigenous-Settler Relations Collaboration, the speakers will be discussing cutting edge social and political theory emerging from Indigenous scholars' critical engagement with contemporary settler colonial politics.

In settler colonial states, such as Australia, Canada and the United States, Indigenous peoples continue to suffer the effects of dispossession and a lack of self-determination. Yet within these colonised spaces, Indigenous peoples also find and create spaces of independence in which they exercise sovereignty through a range of political practices. This panel will explore the rich political dynamics of Indigenous 'refusal', 'resurgence' and 'renewal', moving debate away from the deficit discourse that frames contemporary debate towards a focus on Indigenous defiance, resilience, and independence.

Presenters

• Dr Sana Nakata, The University of Melbourne
• Associate Professor Sheryl Lightfoot, University of British Columbia (UBC)
• Professor Audra Simpson, Columbia University