Manuscript in Progress.

The politics of recognition is at an impasse. Demands for justice continue to be hampered by the failure of institutional forms of affirmation to generate appropriate experiences of agency and well-being in the recogn... more abstractThe politics of recognition is at an impasse. Demands for justice continue to be hampered by the failure of institutional forms of affirmation to generate appropriate experiences of agency and well-being in the recognized. Critics argue that although institutional patterns of recognition are necessary they consistently reproduce the experience of cultural and economic denigration they seek to resolve. This book argues that the breakdown of these practices can be traced back to a general failure of recognition theories to account for the multi-dimensional experience of affirmation and shame. Through an exploration of contemporary philosophical models of selfhood and empirical work in cognition and affect it is argued that conflicting experiences of shame and affirmation can emerge out of two distinct expressive modes or intersubjective 'moments'. Through an appreciation of concurrent 'narrative' and 'phenomenal' moments we can make sense of how recognition both affirms and harms. This framework provides a necessary starting point for theorists and policy-makers to rethink institutions and render the politics of recognition more just.

Despite centuries of progressive resistance, the enduring structures of empire, settler colonialism, hetero-patriarchy, white supremacy and neoliberal capitalism have proven resilient. Alternatives have been forged wi... more abstractDespite centuries of progressive resistance, the enduring structures of empire, settler colonialism, hetero-patriarchy, white supremacy and neoliberal capitalism have proven resilient. Alternatives have been forged within different scales and spatialities - the local, the urban, the national, and the global - yet these structures of domination persist and in some cases become stronger. In this chapter, I argue that efforts to radically democratize norms and institutions have faltered because they have not been sufficiently grounded in relations of equality and mutual aid among children and adults. Historically, the figure of the child has been little more than an afterthought of critical activism and scholarship. Often deployed as a symbol of a better future, the child is nevertheless positioned as passive with respect to struggles unfolding in the present. The exclusion of children as political equals will either limit or destroy emancipatory struggle, for wherever the notion of naturalized superiority of adult over child is manifest even tacitly in our conceptions of political agency, the seeds of a naturalized superiority of man over woman, rich over poor, and white over black are also sown. If the aim of resistance is to foster a creative, direct, decentralized, voluntary, horizontal, self-managed, reciprocal and sustainable form of collective life, we must begin at the beginning, by embodying, prefiguratively, the inclusion of children as agential partners. Practices of freedom must be deeply rooted in these relations or they will not survive. Worse, we risk introducing entirely new forms of coercive hierarchy. As a corrective, I offer a necessarily brief and general introduction to the idea of radical children's geographies, an approach which goes beyond the privileging of adult capacities toward the recognition that children's primary mode of agency is non-representational. In the case of the very young - i.e., infants and toddlers - meaning and understanding are generated through their embodied and non-representational mode of engagement with the world and others. This non-discursive type of action is commonly referred to as enactive. Even as children acquire language, until roughly the age of seven, language-use remains rooted in this immediate domain of social relationships and experience. Although our enactive mode of agency is retained for our entire lives, it is the primary and for a time the exclusive form of environmental, personal, and social understanding for children. Recognizing enactive agency as agency is an important first step, but it is also critical that we place it on equal standing with voice, not devalue it as an inferior or less-developed mode of human engagement. The praxis exercised by the child and the adult are distinct yet equal forms of agency admitting of their own relative strengths and advantages.

Human Geography, Cultural Geography, Political Geography and Geopolitics, Sociology of Children and Childhood, Political Theory, and 17 more

Canadian Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Canadian History, Indigenous Politics, and 8 more

Publication Name: The Winter We Danced

Over the years, the exclusion of children has been given many names: adultism, childism, adultarchy, adult supremacy, misopedy. Whatever we wish to name it, the exclusion of children based on a deficiency of reason is... more abstractOver the years, the exclusion of children has been given many names: adultism, childism, adultarchy, adult supremacy, misopedy. Whatever we wish to name it, the exclusion of children based on a deficiency of reason is a remnant of the colonial mindset, the preservation of which has a profound impact on modern politics.

Political Philosophy, Education, Sociology of Children and Childhood, Political Theory, Postcolonial Studies, and 22 more

Indigenous peoples encounter restrictions on their modes of reasoning and account-giving within democratic sites of negotiation and deliberation. Political theorists understand these restrictions as forms of exclusio... more abstract Indigenous peoples encounter restrictions on their modes of reasoning and account-giving within democratic sites of negotiation and deliberation. Political theorists understand these restrictions as forms of exclusion related to what theorist Iris Young has called the 'internal exclusion' of subordinated perspectives (1) and what James Bohman has referred to as the 'asymmetrical inclusion' of such perspectives. (2) 'Internal exclusion' refers to ways in which actors are formally accepted into decision-making processes, only to find their perspectives disqualified due to informal but no less pervasive criteria of exclusion. 'Asymmetrical inclusion' refers to the undue burdens placed on marginalized peoples to persuade dominant communities. It is argued in light of these problems that more inclusive institutions as well as the cultivation of an ethos of receptivity will be necessary for genuine inclusion. I argue that this focus on enriching dialogue mischaracterizes the nature of the disagreement. Disagreement does not only arise between opinions or discourses that can be articulated and judged, but also at a deeper level, between the background assumptions against which practices of articulation and judgment are understood. Territorial state sovereignty, I argue, is a background understanding that can render sites of democratic negotiation inhospitable to Indigenous claims. I conclude that when thinking through Indigenous equality and autonomy, theorists should be attuned to the sites and conditions of dialogue that might serve to reinscribe relations of domination and exclusion. I will begin by outlining three patterns of colonialism related to the internal exclusion and asymmetrical inclusion of Indigenous peoples and perspectives. I will then describe how state sovereignty and territorial jurisdiction are responsible for these patterns. I will not be providing a comprehensive historical or philosophical account of the concept of sovereignty. Rather, the focus here will be on the patterns of reasoning and responsibility that arise for state officials by virtue of being embedded in institutional and bureaucratic structures of obligation. I then turn to Young's modified version of deliberative democracy, 'communicative democracy', which exemplifies the response of political theory to the problem of internal exclusions. Communicative democracy focuses on the cultivation of receptivity to difference and the incorporation of practices such as greeting, narrative, and story-telling into courts and other sites of negotiation.

Native American Studies, Canadian Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Postcolonial Studies, and 24 more

The violence of settler colonial dispossession and assimilation flows historically from civilizational precepts such as Manifest Destiny, terra nullius, the white man's burden and the Doctrine of Discovery. Although f... more abstractThe violence of settler colonial dispossession and assimilation flows historically from civilizational precepts such as Manifest Destiny, terra nullius, the white man's burden and the Doctrine of Discovery. Although formally rejected by modern governments, these principles are nevertheless preserved in the legal and political systems of contemporary settler colonial states. The figure at the heart of these colonial doctrines is the " Indian " , often understood as an incarnation of the ancient Greek and Roman category of the foreign barbarian, whose conquest was an enduring imperial ambition. Yet the conceptualization of the " Indian " in the context of New World settler colonialism differs significantly from this classification. Whereas the category of the barbarian reflected an ancient imperial mandate to pursue glory through conquest and slavery, the idea of the " Indian " is distinguished by the modern colonial mandates of civilizational progress through dispossession and education. I argue in the following that Indigenous peoples are not conceptualized primarily as barbarian opponents of empire, but rather, the " Indian " is constructed according to the ancient conception of the degraded, not fully-human, child. The idea of a telos of progress from animal child to human adult is both a historical and conceptual antecedent of the idea of European civilization, prefiguring its stories about maturation and progress from cultural ignorance to enlightenment.

Native American Studies, Political Philosophy, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Sociology of Children and Childhood, and 26 more

Why would colonial institutions accommodate and in some cases encourage the voices of Indigenous peoples? Because at its core, what settler society fears more than the disruptive potential of Indigenous speech is the ... more abstractWhy would colonial institutions accommodate and in some cases encourage the voices of Indigenous peoples? Because at its core, what settler society fears more than the disruptive potential of Indigenous speech is the inevitability that Indigenous peoples, once released from an imposed duty to justify themselves to the colonizer, will turn that massive investment of energy back into being truth to power. Being truth to power is reflected in those embodied practices of love for community and for the land, diverse practices that undermine the homogenizing violence that sustains colonial privilege. Accordingly, colonial power increasingly works through sites of dialogue designed to sap the vitality from these embodied practices of autonomy. The goal is to lift Indigenous peoples out of communities and off the land and drop them into a permanent state of explanation, a limbo wherein they are compelled to talk endlessly to settlers about community and about land.

Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Colonial America, Indigenous Politics, and 13 more

In this paper, I introduce the figure of the child, understood as a subhuman Other, as the discursive foundation upon which European slavery and colonialism are rooted. In the first section, I show that the colonial s... more abstractIn this paper, I introduce the figure of the child, understood as a subhuman Other, as the discursive foundation upon which European slavery and colonialism are rooted. In the first section, I show that the colonial structures of social death and violence exacted on black (and also native) peoples are instantiations of the Hellenistic/Christian/Enlightenment subjugation of children. In the formation of the European worldview, the figure of the child features as the ontological Other for whom violence and subjugation are the natural condition. Racializing the peoples of Africa and North America as the irrational, criminal, and sub-human child made possible the institutions of slavery and settler colonialism, as well as modern ideals of agency. In the second section, I show that it was not until the late 19th century that western societies began sparing white youth from the violence of childhood, usually by positioning them as partially benefiting from the mature and therefore fully-human legacy of European civilization. Black and native peoples, on the other hand, remain globally prefigured as children. As a consequence, Black and native youth remain condemned to the status of bestial child from which white children have been partially removed.

Black Studies Or African American Studies, Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Feminist Theory, and 47 more

Why have settler approaches to recognition and reconciliation proven so ineffective at responding to Indigenous demands for decolonization? Even among relatively devoted groups of political officials and representativ... more abstractWhy have settler approaches to recognition and reconciliation proven so ineffective at responding to Indigenous demands for decolonization? Even among relatively devoted groups of political officials and representatives, an expression of commitment to decolonization has not translated into action. I argue that the break down occurs because decolonization is constrained in part by the language and concepts of recognition and reconciliation, which do not feature any formal process of abdication. Abdication is necessary because settler colonialism is characterized by the assertion of territorial state sovereignty over Indigenous lands. The politics of recognition and reconciliation only support ongoing conversation and consultation - a perpetual dialogue about land that does not result in a return of land. I argue, therefore, for a major shift in language and conceptualization of decolonization around the concept of abdication. In the western tradition, abdication denotes the renunciation of power by a sovereign. The etymology of the term (Latin: ab - “away” and dicare - “to proclaim") carries the double meaning of both formal resignation from power as well as abjuring the authority to speak from a position of power. Abdication is indicative of both the requirement to act responsibly and the requirement to forgo idle talk.

Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Colonial America, Sovereignty, Indigenous Politics, and 21 more

The promise of comparative political theory (CPT) is described in terms of a shift from a cultural monologue within the confines of western political theory to an intercultural dialogue between diverse systems of poli... more abstractThe promise of comparative political theory (CPT) is described in terms of a shift from a cultural monologue within the confines of western political theory to an intercultural dialogue between diverse systems of political understanding (Dallmayr 2004). The emerging field of CPT has not yet accounted for one of its biggest obstacles: non-textual political understanding. One of the expressed aims of CPT is to unsettle dominant concepts and categories of analysis by exposing the ways in which they are parochial and particular to European traditions of political thought. When successful, such interventions challenge the assertion that European political norms and concepts are universally applicable, a doctrine which has been deployed in the service of colonialism and the subordination of non-European political systems. In an era of intensifying ideological disagreement over globalization, expanding markets, and resource extraction, it is important to ensure that political theory maintains its role of understanding diverse modes of political life rather than facilitating exclusions of vulnerable groups or the expansion of political power. Presently, CPT as a discipline is shifting from methodological discussions centred on the constraints on intercultural translation to the more substantive work of exploring systems of political understanding. A cottage industry threatens to emerge around abstract meta-theoretical discussion and it is believed, correctly, that there is a great deal of productive experience to be gained from our successes and failures ‘in the field’. Still, at these early stages, certain critical methodological issues remain unresolved and there is a risk that we will reproduce precisely those exclusions that the comparative approach purports to overcome.

Indigenous Studies, Political Theory, Colonialism, Indigenous ecological knowledges and practices, Empire, and 3 more

What is the relationship of the refugee to state sovereignty? The figure of the silent refugee is important for thinkers like Giorgio Agamben because it represents the permanent 'state of exception' to the normative l... more abstractWhat is the relationship of the refugee to state sovereignty? The figure of the silent refugee is important for thinkers like Giorgio Agamben because it represents the permanent 'state of exception' to the normative legal framework ostensibly structured to recognize the human rights and political rights of speaking citizens. In 'the camp', refugees are identified with bare life devoid of political speech, the life that human beings share with animals, which leaves them open to violence. In this paper I argue that the notion of bare life as applied to refugees is modelled on the permanent state of exception in western political thought: the figure of the voiceless child. Through an analysis of Agamben and Hannah Arendt’s writings on the refugee and the child, I show that the criteria of exclusion from full humanity, against which the fully human sovereign subject is understood, continues to be predicated on an understanding of children as incomplete without language and likewise not fully human.

Political Theory, Border Studies, Refugee Studies, Democratic Theory, Sovereignty, and 13 more

Gender Studies, Multiculturalism, Diversity, Race and Racism, Ableism and Ability Studies, and 3 more

The field of democratic theory conceptualizes citizenship in terms of the inclusion of one's 'voice' in formal political arenas. Thus, voice is often conceived of as a privilege conferred by states that is denied to m... more abstractThe field of democratic theory conceptualizes citizenship in terms of the inclusion of one's 'voice' in formal political arenas. Thus, voice is often conceived of as a privilege conferred by states that is denied to many refugees and migrants. In this paper, I argue that democratic theorists should not rely on the model of citizenship-as-voice when thinking about refugees and migrants. Refugees and migrants are often young children, many are illiterate, some are communicatively or cognitively disabled, and many have much to risk in having their speech exposed to public scrutiny. For groups who are unwilling or unable to exercise speech, the model of citizenship-as-voice can be a source of continued exclusion. In the paper, I demonstrate that democratic citizenship is established through the enactment of deeds and embodied practices. To that end, I argue that refugees and migrants qualify as citizens through the act of transgressing state borders, through labour, and through practices of care within their new communities. Irrespective of how and to whom states choose to confer rights, these individuals become citizens when their political agency contests norms in accordance with democratic ideals of equality, inclusion, and reciprocity.

Refugee Studies, Democratic Theory, Deliberative Democracy, Migrant and Diasporic Literature, Refugees, and 1 more

The experiences of black communities are increasingly corroborated by statistics showing that black youth are disproportionally exposed to violence in education, policing, and carceral institutions. Social justice adv... more abstractThe experiences of black communities are increasingly corroborated by statistics showing that black youth are disproportionally exposed to violence in education, policing, and carceral institutions. Social justice advocates, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, contend that black youth are being transformed into adults and denied the protective innocence of childhood. Indeed, from the 1955 murder of 14 year-old Emmett Till to the more recent tragedies of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Tamir Rice, violence against black youth is regularly defended on the grounds that the victims “looked older” and more threatening. Psychological studies seem to show that police and everyday citizens view black youth who are associated with a crime as older than they are but also as less innocent than non-black children accused of the same crime. Accordingly, efforts to combat racialized violence tend to focus on re-affirming black youth as innocent children so as to afford them the security and promise identified with the experience of white youth. Research presented in this paper, drawn from the history of European and colonial understandings of childhood as harbouring inherent criminality, suggest that white youth are afforded protections not because they are categorized as children but because they have been transformed into quasi-adults. It is this new relocation of white youth into proximity with adulthood's presumption of innocence - a process that began in the late 19th century - which explains the relative security and promise that white youth experience. By contrast, black youth suffer disproportionally precisely because they remain closely associated with the inherent criminality of childhood. George Zimmerman, for example, was aware that Trayvon Martin was a teenager, referring to him as a "punk", despite his defence's attempts to depict Martin as a threatening adult. I conclude that at the very least, this strategic rhetoric deployed by subjects and institutions to excuse or justify harm to black youth should not be taken at face value. Rather, the more appropriate starting point of analysis should be the association of childhood with criminality and adulthood with the presumption of innocence. Caution must be taken so that efforts to have black youth re-affirmed as children do not work counter-productively. Indeed, concerned communities might better address racialized violence if they reject the European colonial binary of child/adult itself in favour of the more basic discourse of humanity.

Sociology of Children and Childhood, Race and Racism, Critical Race Theory, Race and Ethnicity, Colonialism, and 8 more

Location: Chicago, IL

Event Date: Aug 31, 2013

Organization: APSA

Location: Victoria, BC

Event Date: Jun 6, 2013

Organization: CPSA

Location: University of Victoria, Victoria, BC

Event Date: Aug 4, 2012

Organization: Deparochializing Political Theory East Asian Perspectives on Politics: Advancing Research in Comparative Political Theory Workshop VI

Organization: CPSA 2012: Decolonizing Political Theory Workshop

Conference End Date: Jun 15, 2012

Conference Start Date: Jun 13, 2012

Location: Montreal, QC

Organization: Indigenous Peoples and Governance: How to Break Out of Colonialism

Conference End Date: Apr 21, 2012

Conference Start Date: Apr 17, 2012

Location: University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario

Event Date: May 2011

Organization: 2011 Annual Conference of the Canadian Political Science Association

Location: Reed College, Portland Oregon

Organization: Association for Political Theory 2010 Annual Conference

Conference End Date: Oct 23, 2010

Conference Start Date: Oct 22, 2010

Location: Montreal, QC

Event Date: Jun 3, 2010

Organization: 2010 Annual Conference of the Canadian Political Science Association

Conference End Date: Jun 3, 2010

Conference Start Date: Jun 1, 2010