Abstract
As political theorists address the parochial foundations of their field, engagement with the Indigenous traditions of Turtle Island (North America) is overdue. This article argues that theorists should approach such engagement with caution. Indigenous nations’ politics of knowledge production may differ from those of de-parochializing political theorists. Some Indigenous communities, in response to violent histories of knowledge extraction, have developed practices of refusal. The contemporary movement of resurgence engages Indigenous traditions of political thought toward the end of promoting Indigenous intellectual and political sovereignty and self-determination. These practices demonstrate a commitment to epistemic justice that is imperfectly aligned with, and potentially opposed to, inclusion-oriented projects like comparative political theory. If political theorists are to de-parochialize political theory by incorporating Indigenous traditions, they must do so in ways that are respectful of Indigenous peoples’ own struggles for epistemic justice. This can be achieved by drawing on and deepening practices of reflexivity exhibited in leading comparative political theory scholarship, and by allowing Indigenous treaty relationships to set the terms of the encounter.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Melissa Williams, Matt Walton, and Zak Black for providing detailed feedback on several drafts of this article, and Courtney Jung for encouraging me to write it in the first place. I would also like to acknowledge the helpful feedback from participants and co-panelists at the Toronto Political Theory Research Workshop, the University of Toronto Indigenous Politics Research Cluster, the Public Issues and Public Reason Conference at Carleton University and the Canadian Political Science Association Annual Meeting at the University of Regina. Three anonymous reviewers at Contemporary Political Theory offered deep, thoughtful criticism which greatly improved the article. Many thanks to them, as well as to Jemima Repo, David Suell, and the editors of CPT for their expert, professional guidance through the revision and publication process. Funding for this research was provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto, and the Centre for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Victoria.
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Sherwin, D. Comparative political theory, indigenous resurgence, and epistemic justice: From deparochialization to treaty. Contemp Polit Theory 21, 46–70 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41296-021-00486-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41296-021-00486-w