Revitalizing laws, (re)-making treaties, dismantling violence

Indigenous resurgence against 'the sixth mass extinction

Bibliographic Data

ID4847734
AuthorsAudra Mitchell (0009-0008-3592-6248, Canada Research Chair in Global Political Ecology, Balsillie School of International Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume21
Issue7
Pages909-924
Publication date2020-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial & Cultural Geography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1464-9365 • E-ISSN: 1470-1197
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14649365.2018.1528628
OpenAlexW2894589119
LanguageEN
Citations received20
References cited39

The stories told about 'extinction' matter greatly: they embody theories about what is causing the global-scale destruction of plants, animals and other beings, and what might stop it. Dominant Western scientific stories/theories frame this phenomenon as the unintended result of desirable human activities. They prescribe the scientific management of remaining 'biodiversity' within structures driven by colonization, extractivism and other violent logics. In contrast, Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Nêhiyaw and many other Indigenous stories/theories that address this issue understand 'extinction' as an expression of the breaking of laws, treaties and protocols between particular peoples, plants, animals, land, water and other beings. This relation-breaking violence is embedded in everyday manifestations of colonial violence and in the genocides of humans and nonhuman peoples. Centring Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabeg, Nêhiyaw and critical Western/settler stories/theories, this contribution argues that halting 'extinction' means not only dismantling structures of law-breaking and structural violence, but also repairing the relations that those laws, treaties and protocols uphold. It also honours the efforts of Indigenous resurgents doing the crucial work of repairing these relations

Biology · Colonialism · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Extinction (optical mineralogy · Indigenous · Phenomenon · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Structural violence · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Law · Philosophy · Water Governance and Infrastructure · Ecology

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