The ethical demands of settler colonial theory

This article explores the strengths and limitations of settler colonial theory (SCT) as a tool for non-Indigenous scholars seeking to disturb rather than re-enact colonial privilege. Based on an examination of recent Australian academic debates on settler colonialism and the Northern Territory intervention, we argue that SCT is useful in dehistoricizing colonialism, usually presented as an unfortunate but already transcended national past, and in revealing the intimate connections between settler emotions, knowledges, institutions and policies. Most importantly, it makes settler investments visible to settlers, in terms we understand and find hard to escape. However, as others have noted, SCT seems unable to transcend itself, in the sense that it posits a structural inevitability to the settler colonial relationship. We suggest that this structuralism can be mobilized by settler scholars in ways that delegitimize Indigenous resistance and reinforce violent colonial relationships. But while settlers come to stay and to erase Indigenous political existence, this does not mean that these intentions will be realized or must remain fixed. Non-Indigenous scholars should challenge the politically convenient conflation of settler desires and reality, and of the political present and the future. This article highlights these issues in order to begin to unlock the transformative potential of SCT, engaging settler scholars as political actors and arguing that this approach has the potential to facilitate conversations and alliances with Indigenous people. It is precisely by using the strengths of SCT that we can challenge its limitations; the theory itself places ethical demands on us as settlers, including the demand that we actively refuse its potential to re-empower our own academic voices and to marginalize Indigenous resistance.

Dance and the colonial body : re-choreographing postcolonial theories of the body

Cette dissertation traite la danse comme une catégorie d’analyse permettant de réorienter ou de ré-chorégraphier les théories postcoloniales du corps. Mon étude montre qu’ Edward Said, par exemple, décrit la danse seulement à travers le regard impérial, et que Homi Bhabha et Gayatri Spivak négligent complètement le rôle de la dance dans la construction de la subjectivité postcoloniale. Mon étude explique que Stavros Karayanni récemment explore la danse masculine et féminine comme espaces de résistance contre la domination coloniale. Toutefois, l’analyse de Karayanni met l’accent seulement sur le caractère insaisissable de la danse qui produit une ambigüité et une ambivalence dans le regard du sujet impériale. Contrairement aux approches de Said et de Karayanni, ma dissertation explore la danse comme un espace ou le corps du sujet colonisé chorégraphie son histoire collective que l’amnésie coloniale ne cesse de défigurer au moyen de l’acculturation et de marchandisation. Je soutiens que la danse nous offre la possibilité de concevoir le corps colonisé non seulement dans son ambiguïté, comme le souligne Karayanni, mais aussi dans son potentiel de raconter corporellement sa mémoire collective de l’intérieur de la domination impériale. Ma dissertation soutient que les catégories de l’ambiguïté et de l’insaisissabilité mystifient et fétichisent le corps dansant en le décrivant comme un élément évasif et évanescent. Ma dissertation inclut plusieurs traditions culturelles de manière à réorienter la recherche ethnographique qui décrit la dance comme articulation codée par une culture postcoloniale spécifique. Mon étude montre comment le corps colonisé produit un savoir culturel à partir de sa différence. Cette forme de savoir corporelle présente le corps colonisé en tant que sujet et non seulement objet du désir colonial. Méthodologiquement, cette dissertation rassemble des théories occidentales et autochtones de la danse. Mon étude considère aussi les théories postcoloniales du corps dansant à partir des perspectives hétérosexuelles et homosexuelles. En outre, mon étude examine les manières dont les quelles les théories contemporaines de la danse, postulées par Susan Foster et André Lepecki par exemple, peuvent être pertinentes dans le contexte postcolonial. Mon étude explore également le potentiel politique de l’érotique dans la danse à travers des représentations textuelles et cinématographiques du corps. L’introduction de ma dissertation a trois objectifs. Premièrement, elle offre un aperçu sur les théories postcoloniales du corps. Deuxièmement, elle explique les manières dans lesquelles on peut appliquer des philosophies contemporaines de la danse dans le contexte postcoloniale. Troisièmement, l’introduction analyse le rôle de la dance dans les œuvres des écrivains postcoloniales célèbres tels que Frantz Fanon, Wole Soyinka, Arundhati Roy, et Wilson Harris. Le Chapitre un remet en question les théories de l’ambiguïté et de l’insaisissabilité de la danse à partir de la théorie de l’érotique postulé par Audre Lorde. Ce chapitre examine le concept de l’érotique dans le film Dunia de Jocelyne Saab. Le Chapitre deux ouvre un dialogue entre les théories occidentales et autochtones de la danse à partir d’une étude d’un roman de Tomson Highway. Le Chapitre trois examine comment l’écrivain Trinidadien Earl Lovelace utilise la danse de carnaval comme espace culturel qui reflète l’homogénéité raciale et l’idéologie nationaliste à Trinidad et en les remettant également en question.

Enrique Barba y el orbe colonial rioplatense. Balances y proyecciones

La Universidad Nacional de La Plata y los estudios históricos en la Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación se construyeron con la impronta de Ricardo Levene, la cual dejó su estela por años en muchos de sus discípulos. Dentro de esa escuela histórica se desarrolló y consolidó la figura de Enrique Barba en la ciudad de La Plata y en su Universidad. Sus libros, folletos y colaboraciones suman más de 50 trabajos a lo largo de 55 años de labor, sin embargo en estas líneas que siguen a continuación nos referiremos a su veta menos divulgada y es ella el aporte historiográfico que realizó Enrique Barba para la construcción del pasado colonial rioplatense como también quiénes fueron los que continuaron por el camino que Barba trazó en el campo de los estudios coloniales.

Enrique Barba y el orbe colonial rioplatense. Balances y proyecciones

La Universidad Nacional de La Plata y los estudios históricos en la Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación se construyeron con la impronta de Ricardo Levene, la cual dejó su estela por años en muchos de sus discípulos. Dentro de esa escuela histórica se desarrolló y consolidó la figura de Enrique Barba en la ciudad de La Plata y en su Universidad. Sus libros, folletos y colaboraciones suman más de 50 trabajos a lo largo de 55 años de labor, sin embargo en estas líneas que siguen a continuación nos referiremos a su veta menos divulgada y es ella el aporte historiográfico que realizó Enrique Barba para la construcción del pasado colonial rioplatense como también quiénes fueron los que continuaron por el camino que Barba trazó en el campo de los estudios coloniales.

Enrique Barba y el orbe colonial rioplatense. Balances y proyecciones

La Universidad Nacional de La Plata y los estudios históricos en la Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación se construyeron con la impronta de Ricardo Levene, la cual dejó su estela por años en muchos de sus discípulos. Dentro de esa escuela histórica se desarrolló y consolidó la figura de Enrique Barba en la ciudad de La Plata y en su Universidad. Sus libros, folletos y colaboraciones suman más de 50 trabajos a lo largo de 55 años de labor, sin embargo en estas líneas que siguen a continuación nos referiremos a su veta menos divulgada y es ella el aporte historiográfico que realizó Enrique Barba para la construcción del pasado colonial rioplatense como también quiénes fueron los que continuaron por el camino que Barba trazó en el campo de los estudios coloniales.

APT7 : highs and lows

A critical assessment of the 7th Asia Pacific Triennial (APT7) in terms of how it is realizing its ambition, where it is succeeding and where it is falling short.

Diferença em disputa: os embates acerca do kit anti-homofobia (2004-2012).

Esta dissertação é parte integrante da linha de pesquisa Currículo: sujeitos, conhecimentos e cultura e do grupo de pesquisa Currículo, cultura e diferença coordenado pela Prof Dr Elizabeth Fernandes de Macedo. Neste trabalho analisei os embates através das articulações discursivas em torno do kit anti-homofobia do Projeto Escola Sem Homofobia do Ministério da Educação. O objetivo deste trabalho era responder o que pode ter contribuído para que o discurso contrário à implementação deste projeto tenha saído hegemônico nesta disputa, e se seria este material um desestabilizador na discussão binária que envolve esta temática ou se reforçaria este binarismo. Para isso, utilizei como aporte teórico estudos pós-coloniais, estudos pós-estruturais, teoria do discurso, discussões do campo do currículo e teoria queer. Metodologicamente, acompanhei os argumentos dxs atorxs políticos que posicionaram-se favoráveis à utilização deste kit nas escolas e os argumentos dos que posicionaram-se contrariamente em alguns veículos de imprensa de relevância nacional e nos pronunciamentos nos plenários da Câmara e no Senado no período de novembro de 2010 a outubro de 2012. A análise evidenciou que os embates discursivos provocados por tais ações governamentais podem ser um convite às resignificações da tradição cultural brasileira tão marcada pelo sexismo e a homofobia.

(Re)writing the other/self : autoethnography in the transcultural arena of representation

Abstract: In Imperial Eyes Mary Louise Pratt (1992: 7, emphasis original) defines autoethnography as "instances in which colonized subjects undertake to represent themselves in ways that engage with the colonizer's own terms ... in response to or in dialogue with . . . metropolitan representations." Although Pratt's conceptualization of autoethnography has much to offer post-colonial studies, it has received little attention in the field. In this thesis, I interrogate Pratt's notion of autoethnography as a theoretical tool for understanding the self-representations of subordinate peoples within transcultural terrains of signification. I argue that autoethnography is a concept that allows us to move beyond some theoretical dualisms, and to recognize the (necessary) coexistence of subordinate peoples' simultaneous accommodation of and resistance to dominant representations of themselves. I suggest that even when autoethnographic expressions seem to rely on or to reproduce dominant knowledges, their very existence as speech acts implicitly resists dominant discourses which objectify members of oppressed populations and re-create them as Native Informants. I use Pratt's concept to analyze two books by Islamic feminist sociologist Fatima Memissi. Memissi's Dreams ofTrespass and Scheherazade Goes West illustrate the simultaneity of accommodation and disruption evident in autoethnographic communication. Across the two books, Memissi shows herself renegotiating the discourses which discipline her (and her speech). She switches back and forth between the positions of reader and author, demonstrates the reciprocity of the disciplinary gaze (she looks back at her dominants, reading their own reading of her representation of her social group), and provides a model of autoethnographic dialogue.

Constructive Universalism: Sen and Sensitivity to Difference

Amartya Sen’s capability approach is, on the one hand, in line with universalism such as exhibited in Martha Nussbaum’s capabilities approach and Len Doyal and Ian Gough’s human need theory. On the other hand, his approach puts priority on people’s “self-evaluation” of capabilities and needs. The latter emphasis makes his approach distinctly sensitive to people’s differences such as gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, etc.. One could ask, however, how successfully the former commitment to universalism relates to this latter feature that places importance on taking difference seriously. This question is especially relevant with respect to global justice and gender, for example. To offer a potential answers to this question is main goal of this paper.

Postcolonial critique of reason: Spivak between Kant and Matilal

The paper ponders the location of Gayatri Spivak in the discursive space between Kant and Bimal K. Matilal (but she is also dis-located by her own enactments, disavowals). So it wonders what a postcolonial critique of reason would look like. In the chapter on philosophy, Spivak (1999) develops a sustained critique of just this kind by decoding the works of the 'Three Wise Men of Continental Europe' (Kant, Hegel, Marx), pointing, via the European impact on the Third World, to the ultimate 'foreclosure: [in the fashion of] the native informant'. But the paper detects another triangular imaginary of reason - this time without an apex, and with limited strategies, each deconstructing and challenging the other. Kant is thus important in spite of his own cosmopolitheia, Matilal for his rational realism of 'moral love'. What both fell short of was a genuine critique of the rational, and therefore also of one of its unfortunate beneficiaries, the postcolonial 'informant'; and this critique is Spivak's 'gift'.

The travel imagination and the hybrid reality in the wake of colonialism

The “traveling imagination,” is of paramount importance to both western and postcolonial travelers. Since both groups create “travel imaginations” by extensive reading, the nature of the books that inform them must directly affect their travels. A westerner, for example, who reads only colonial-era accounts has the “travel imagination” of a different generation. If all perspectives were represented equally in libraries, the “travel imagination” of a given person would be entirely his/her own. But usually the “traveler’s imagination” is biased by prevailing opinion. Libraries are not democracies, and sometimes extensive reading only indoctrinates the reader with the biases of the canon. Perhaps the following generalization will be helpful. Westerners are able to create “traveling imaginations,” based on the books they trust. But postcolonials, who have reason to be suspicious of what they read, have complicated “traveling imaginations.” Sometimes postcolonial travelers base their “traveling imaginations” on what they read, and sometimes, in opposition to what they read. The books discussed in this thesis, In Patagonia, The Cruise of the Shark, The Happy Isles of Oceania, A Passage to England and The Enigma of Arrival, were first published in, 1977, 1939, 1992, 1971 and 1987, respectively, in what Ali Behdad calls the “age of colonial dissolution.” Perhaps it would be more accurate to say these books are set in the “age of colonial demolition.” For the most part, the empires in these texts are in ruins, or at least in the process of being dismantled. In fact, two of the authors, Nirad Chaudhuri and V.S. Naipaul are canonical post-colonial thinkers.

Exploring diverse community discourses : reflections from a local perspective

This paper represents some of the diverse discourses in the social sciences that are not often known by, or considered relevant to, those people interested in community development. On the contrary, I argue that these discourses may in fact be vitally pertinent to understanding the divergent predicaments facing us in our present moment.
After working in the field for twenty years, I am in the final stages of a PhD case study on one of the Victorian 'Community Building Demonstration Projects', based in Melbourne's North. This discussion is therefore based on the intersections between working in a community, traditionally accepted discourses of community development, and 'alternative' discourses that often appear unrelated.
In particular there are seven taken-for-granted cultural stories I will examine: problem posing, holism, social research, post colonial studies, critical social theory, public policy, and eco philosophy, in the hope that these might provide an 'other' story for community and development. Given this broad canvas, I will necessarily be breif on each topic.

Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian Novels as an Early Paradigm of Racial Toleration

The Martian novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs (ERB) provide an early paradigm of racial toleration by displacing the heterogeneous race conflicts of the U. S. to an interplanetary location. There, the protagonist John Carter, representing Burroughs himself, introduces a level of racial acceptance and integration almost unheard of on the Earth of that era (the early twentieth century).

Nostra Signora del Mar Dolce: a (re) criação da viagem na narrativa de Gemma Ferruggia

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)