Glen Coulthard's "Subjects of Empire"

I've been having a fling with this paper by Glen Coulthard "Subjects of Empire: Indigenous Peoples and the 'Politics of Recognition' in Canada" and clicking on the title of this post will link you to a website where you can read it for yourself. A few months ago my friend Chris emailed it to me and I read it, gave a copy to my advisor and two other professors, including Denise Ferreira da Silva with the suggestion he be invited to speak at our weekly Ethnic Studies colloquium. I also gave a copy to Maile and I realized that I should just post the link.

I met him at the conference in Athens although I missed seeing him on a panel. I introduced myself, told him how much I liked his paper, that I was starting a fan club and would need head shots. I KNOW! I know.

It's just so smart and helps me in thinking about my prospectus for my dissertation. I agree that recognition from the state only reinforces those colonial relationships and is not transformative. What he suggests, based on the work of Frantz Fanon, is "collective self-recognition" and that is what I am hoping to find examples of for my project although articulating it is not getting easier. Well, not getting easier as quickly as I would like.