Indigeneity, Colonialism, and Early Medieval Britain

Organizers

Karen Jolly, Catherine Karkov

session information

Concepts of ‘indigeneity’, and ‘settler colonialism’ are multiple and rigorously debated amongst modern theorists, yet these debates have had relatively little impact on the ways in which such terms have been applied to early medieval Britain and England. This seminar session asks participants to consider the work of theorists and scholars (e.g. Mamdani, Wolfe, Tuhiwai Smith, the various position papers published in the journals Antipode, and Anthropological Theory) assessing if, when, and how their work is applicable to early medieval Britain/England from a range of disciplinary and theoretical positions. In doing so it engages with a number of interrelated questions such as:

• Is all colonialism settler colonialism?

• Can one have colonialism without indigeneity?

• How can methods derived from anticolonial and indigenous studies offer perspectives on early medieval histories and identities obscured by modern western colonialism?

• How can such work be pursued without the risk of cultural appropriation?

Modern terms are generally defined through exclusively modern case studies and, as such, might or might not be applicable to the study of the early Middle Ages. How might early medievalists productively refine or expand on contemporary definitions in ways that enrich scholarly understanding of colonial situations and structures?

Any questions can be directed to Catherine Karkov, karkovc@gmail.com, and Karen Jolly, kjolly@hawaii.edu.