Engaging Indigenous politics in a good way: A critical approach to decolonial scholarship

Abstract

A significant barrier that scholars of Canadian politics face in engaging with Indigenous politics in a “good way” is challenging foundational beliefs about the character and content of “the political.” This includes refusing the naturalization of the existence of the state, discursively re-tethering culture to law and politics, and taking real material risks by putting theory into praxis. Scholarship within the subfield of Indigenous politics and the field of critical Indigenous studies offer scholars of Canadian political science meaningful inroads to address these structural and epistemic burdens.

This article asserts that engaging with Indigenous politics toward the end of decolonization and liberation, not simply inclusion, requires structural disruption, localized action, and a deference towards Indigenous knowledge systems. I identify potential sites of intervention in the field of political science provoked by the question “how might we engage with Indigenous politics in a ‘good’ way?”