Settler Colonialism and the Elimination of the Native
by PATRICK WOLFE.
Journal of Genocide Research (2006), 8(4), December, 387–409
"The question of genocide is never far from discussions of settler colonialism. Land is life – or, at least, land is necessary for life. Thus contests for land can be – indeed, often are – contests for life." Page 387
If in the previous post we asked where the bottom started, this author makes very clear where it ends. Or where it keeps ending, or systematically disintegrated. In other words, this article explains the how, and why the denial of Human Security to a specific people is being reproduced.
"On the one hand, settler society required the practical elimination of the natives in order to establish itself on their territory. On the symbolic level, however, settler society subsequently sought to recuperate indigeneity in order to express its difference—and, accordingly, its independence—from the mother country." Page 389
"When invasion is recognized as a structure rather than an event, its history does not stop—or, more to the point, become relatively trivial—when it moves on from the era of frontier homicide." Page 402
The author makes a thorough analysis of United States, Australia, Europe and Israel cases in order to understand a subtle "logic of elimination" around the conquest of territories, leading to the "structural genocide" that passes in front of our eyes, mostly unnoticed. In conclusion, a must for Human Security studies.
Journal of Genocide Research (2006), 8(4), December, 387–409
"The question of genocide is never far from discussions of settler colonialism. Land is life – or, at least, land is necessary for life. Thus contests for land can be – indeed, often are – contests for life." Page 387
If in the previous post we asked where the bottom started, this author makes very clear where it ends. Or where it keeps ending, or systematically disintegrated. In other words, this article explains the how, and why the denial of Human Security to a specific people is being reproduced.
"On the one hand, settler society required the practical elimination of the natives in order to establish itself on their territory. On the symbolic level, however, settler society subsequently sought to recuperate indigeneity in order to express its difference—and, accordingly, its independence—from the mother country." Page 389
"When invasion is recognized as a structure rather than an event, its history does not stop—or, more to the point, become relatively trivial—when it moves on from the era of frontier homicide." Page 402
The author makes a thorough analysis of United States, Australia, Europe and Israel cases in order to understand a subtle "logic of elimination" around the conquest of territories, leading to the "structural genocide" that passes in front of our eyes, mostly unnoticed. In conclusion, a must for Human Security studies.
Labels: Paper Reviews