Spaces between Us: Queer Settler Colonialism and Indigenous Decolonization

by Scott L. Morgensen

We are all caught up in one another, Scott Lauria Morgensen asserts, we who live in settler societies, and our interrelationships inform all that these societies touch. Native people live in relation to all non-Natives amid the ongoing power relations of settler colonialism, despite never losing inherent claims to sovereignty as indigenous peoples. Explaining how relational distinctions of “Native” and “settler” define the status of being “queer,” Spaces between Us argues that modern queer subjects emerged among Natives and non-Natives by engaging the meaningful difference indigeneity makes within a settler society. Morgensen’s analysis exposes white settler colonialism as a primary condition for the development of modern queer politics in the United States. Bringing together historical and ethnographic cases, he shows how U.S. queer projects became non-Native and normatively white by comparatively examining the historical activism and critical theory of Native queer and Two-Spirit people. Presenting a “biopolitics of settler colonialism”—in which the imagined disappearance of indigeneity and sustained subjugation of all racialized peoples ensures a progressive future for white settlers— Spaces between Us newly demonstrates the interdependence of nation, race, gender, and sexuality and offers opportunities for resistance in the United States.

Genres: Queer, Indigenous, Nonfiction, Theory, History, Race, Politics

336 pages, Paperback

First published October 19, 2011

Reviews

[Luna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spaces Between Us has a lot to offer within the very specific conversation Morgensen is having, but the book was perhaps overly academic to start and also a little narrow in subject for my particular interests. The author focuses on a couple of very specific incidents (a zine, a small movement, a social event), and doesn't set them within the context of the broader concepts (heteronormativity in settler society) that he discusses in the introduction. At least not in a way that seemed broadly helpful. If one is interested in specific examples of appropriation of Native culture by specifically white gay settler men, readers will find this book quite interesting in that regard.

[Ai Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good book--deeply, deeply thought-provoking, once you get used to the dense language. Would have rated it higher but I think I need to revisit it and not read it over the course of an entire semester. The beginning chapters especially are important, and I would have loved them to be a touch more accessible so I felt comfortable using them in an undergraduate class, but I'm not sure I can do that. We'll see, as I will be revisiting them for sure. But really, really important work here, and I hope it opens up space for more queer settlers like myself to deeply consider how our sexualities and gender identities are tied up in settler colonialism.

[Jamie]

A bit too academic for my interest right now.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good read for being a text book. A lot of good information in here if you are interested in Two Spirit studies.

[Chris Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very theoretical and hard to read. If you can get past the flowery language, the book has some great content.

[Avery Follett · Rating 5 out of 5]

really enjoyed immersing in this