Learning How To Not Steal: Settler Practices for Being in Relation to Indigenous Sovereignties in Entangled Worlds
Abstract
Abstract: “Epistemophilia”—a love of knowledge—is key feature of colonialism. It includes the belief that knowing more is better, that knowledge should be shared, and that knowledge is separable from context. Settler-colonial education systems are in part systems of epistemic extraction and theft that buttress material and relational extractivism, attempting to steal land, relations, and practices. In this paper I explore how white settlers doing research, learning, and teaching can resist extractivism in our work, including creating space to not know, to recognize situated and embodied forms of knowledge that are not transferable across context, and to respect boundaries.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Decolonial Thought and Epistemologies
Indigenous Health
Education
and Rights
Indigenous and Place-Based Education
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Theory & Event
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 140–157
- Publication date
- 1 January 2026
- Language
- EN