Conference presentation
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English

Gender, sexuality, and the reproductive politics of settler colonialism

Presented atCours général in Etudes genre, Faculté des lettres, UNIGE, Concepts et méthodes du Genre en sciences humaines : des perspectives plurielles, Genève, 20.12.2024
Presentation date2024-12-20
Abstract

This presentation focuses on reproductive rights in the context of historic Anglo settler colonialism (primarily in what is now known as the United States of America). Under the eliminative logic of this specific form of colonization, indigenous populations are subject to genocidal processes that facilitate their replacement by a new settler nation state. These processes include “ethnic cleansing,” in both its material and cultural dimensions, and control of the bodies and sexuality of indigenous and settler women (and men). Essentially, the settler state is served by the elimination of reproductive capacity among Indigenous populations and the expansion of colonial demographics via the promotion of settler sexual reproduction. We will look at the politics of abortion as a practice that subverts the possessive logic of settler colonialism in contrast to the involuntary sterilization of Indigenous women that serves this logic. We will also turn to Judith Butler's theorization of “compulsory heterosexuality” in relation to the settler-colonial assault on Indigenous “two spirit,” gender-queer, and other LGBTQI identities. Discussion of these intersecting issues focuses on the construction of a violent settler masculinity in poems by Qwo-Li Driskill and Marcie Rendon that address the history of genocidal violence in the United States, and the contemporary epidemic of sexual violence against Indigenous women that has provoked the MMIWG2S (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People) campaign.

Keywords
  • Genocide
  • Settler colonialism
  • Postcolonialism
  • Gender
  • Sexuality
  • Reproductive rights
  • Indigeneity
  • Native America
  • Gender queer
  • Two-spirit
Citation (ISO format)
MADSEN, Deborah Lea. Gender, sexuality, and the reproductive politics of settler colonialism. In: Cours général in Etudes genre, Faculté des lettres, UNIGE. Genève. 2024.
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  • PID : unige:182374
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