Indigenous political theory, metaphysical revolt, and the decolonial rearticulation of political ordering

Bibliographic Data

ID6431072
AuthorsValentin Clavé-Mercier (0000-0002-8025-8305, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume17
Issue1
Pages92-117
Publication date2025-01-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Theory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1752-9719 • E-ISSN: 1752-9727
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1752971924000137
OpenAlexW4406849420
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited69

Colonization processes have resulted in the naturalization and universalization of a particular Eurocentric construction of political ordering. As a result, Indigenous claims of sovereignty – especially significant in settler colonial contexts since the 1960s and 1970s – have historically been obfuscated and are still construed as anomalies or impossibilities. Based on poststructuralist international relations theory and Indigenous political theory, as well as interviews conducted with Māori actors participating in the mobilization of sovereignty politics, this article advances two main contributions. Firstly, it develops a particular approach to the state-Indigenous contention of political ordering by calling attention to the metaphysical foundations of the particular conceptions of sovereignty they respectively deploy. Secondly, it contends that Māori political actors are enacting a ‘metaphysical revolt’ through their reconceptualization of sovereignty theory and practice; one that contains potential for a decolonial rearticulation of political ordering. Through its direct engagement with Indigenous political mobilization and the theorizing sustaining it, this article illustrates how Indigenous theories of sovereignty translate into conceptual alternatives that break away from the colonial roots and underpinnings of paradigmatic sovereignty. Therefore, this article contributes to exploring alternative models of political ordering by illuminating the links between Indigenous thought and decolonial imagination

Biology · Epistemology · Indigenous · Metaphysics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · African cultural and philosophical studies · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Law · Philosophy · Political theory and Gramsci · Ecology

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