Settling for less: why states colonize and why they stop

Extract

Examples of how settler colonialism seeks to erase native societies can be found across the globe. Its appeal is evident in India's ongoing efforts to dilute the Indigenous demographic make-up of Kashmir; in the way Sweden's policy of extractivism interrupts the Indigenous Sami population's material and spiritual claims to their land; and in the way Turkish nationalist iconography in cities in southeastern Turkey adamantly deny the existence of the Indigenous Kurdish community. Hence, it makes sense that, in Settling for less, Lachlan McNamee does not limit the analysis to the traditional European (settler) colonial state. The book spans across diverse geographies and political contexts, including states ostensibly devoted to decolonization as well as those ‘ideologically committed to colonization’ (p. 3). McNamee asks, ‘when and why do states engage in colonization?’ and the book adds nuance to the study of settler colonialism and the ways in which colonial states control and manage Indigenous lands (p. 6).