Territories of Life

Presents ethnographic work in countries where Indigenous and more-than-human collectives struggle to sustain “territories of life” within settler colonial societies.

Territories of Life highlights the multiplicity and heterogeneity of worlds and collectives, some labelled Indigenous, as they struggle to sustain their territories of life. “Territories of life” is the phrase used in this volume to speak about the shapes that these collectives or worlds adopt in the present as they endure the heavy shadow of modernization and coloniality. This label also highlights that the agencies that animate these struggles are never just human but also include entire more-than-human collectives. To portray the complexity of the relations between these collectives and the modernization front, the volume is organized around three keywords: equivocation, entanglement, and endurance. Each of the ten chapters is grounded in long-term ethnographic work from various countries, namely those colonially-known as Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Colombia, Paraguay, and Taiwan. The book offers a grounding to discuss the challenges and possibilities that exist for the continuation of territories of life that have endured, for the renewal of those that have been severely damaged, and for the creation of those that must flourish to sustain diverse modes of existence. Contributors: Penelope Anthias, Jacinta Baragud, Mario Blaser, Yamila M. Gutierrez Callisaya, Benoit Éthier, Sipi Flamand, Hernán Ruiz Fournier, Sarah C. Moritz, Adam Nye, Sylvie Poirier, Lorna Quiroga, Qwalqwalten, Christina Rojas, Scott E. Simon, Kim Spurway, Annick Thomassin, Carolina Tytelman, and Paul Wattez.