Settler Colonialism and (Re)conciliation

“Penelope Edmonds, in Settler Colonialism and (Re)conciliation, employs a historical methodology to examine how reconciliation discourse is deployed and refuted in affective performances. … a useful addition to the literature on transitional justice and on reconciliation in settler societies, particularly because they acknowledge the tensions around whether and how transitional justice might actually be of use for relationships between Indigenous peoples, non-Indigenous peoples and the state.” (Sophie Rigney, International Journal of Transitional Justice, Vol. 11 (2), July, 2017)

“The strength of Edmonds’ analysis lies in her transnational comparisons that show how Indigenous performances hold settler colonial societies to account for the way they sanitise the past through reconciliation events to realise a specious post-racial future. … this book is a vital contribution to Indigenous studies because of the tendency of settler colonial societies to use the consensus politics of reconciliation to rationalise the theft of Indigenous lands and colonial violence.” (Joshua L. Reid, Australian Historical Studies, Vol. 48 (2), May, 2017)