Colin Samson - The Colonialism of Human Rights

1 Title page The Colonialism of Human Rights Ongoing Hypocrisies of Western Liberalism Colin Samson polity

2 Copyright page

3 Figures

4 Acknowledgments

5 Introduction

6 1 Non-universal Human Rights and Rightlessness

7 2 The Uneasy Present of Colonialism

8 3 Slavery and Its Afterlives

9 4 The Less Than Human

10 5 The Impossibility of Indigenous Human Rights

11 6 Decolonizing Human Rights

12 References

13 Index

14 End User License Agreement

1 Cover

2 Contents

3 1 Non-universal Human Rights and Rightlessness

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Colin Samson

polity

Copyright © Colin Samson 2020

The right of Colin Samson to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published in 2020 by Polity Press

Polity Press

65 Bridge Street

Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK

Polity Press

101 Station Landing

Suite 300

Medford, MA 02155, USA

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-2997-1

ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-2998-8 (pb)

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Samson, Colin, author.

Title: The colonialism of human rights : ongoing hypocrisies of western liberalism / Colin Samson.

Description: Cambridge, UK ; Medford, MA : Polity, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “Human rights have never been universal and the costs are still being unequally paid today”-- Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020000112 (print) | LCCN 2020000113 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509529971 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509529988 (paperback) | ISBN 9781509530007 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Human rights--Developing countries. | Imperialism--History. | Slavery--History. | Indigenous peoples--Colonization. | Indigenous peoples--Civil rights. | North and south.

Classification: LCC JC599.D44 S26 2020 (print) | LCC JC599.D44 (ebook) | DDC 323.09172/4--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020000112

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020000113

Typeset in 10 on 12pt Sabon

by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NL

Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International Limited

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Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.

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Exchanges with many people have seeped into my thinking and writing.

For twenty-five years, I have researched and worked with indigenous groups in many places, and these experiences sensitized me to the ongoing nature of colonialism. Seeing how indigenous peoples struggle to maintain their lands and ways of life against the power of national governments to dispossess and assimilate them made me aware of parallels with formerly colonized and enslaved peoples. I saw such parallels while working with the Innu of the Labrador-Quebec Peninsula, joining families in hunting camps on lands officially earmarked as ‘Crown land’, and attending meetings between Innu and the Canadian government. Among many, I would like to thank Napes Ashini, Marcel Ashini, George Rich and Tony Jenkinson. As a volunteer at the Oceti Sakowin camp in 2016, I participated in the Water Protectors movement at Standing Rock to contest an oil pipeline driving through Sioux lands and sacred places. I would like to thank all those who educated me and took me to Standing Rock while I was at the University of Wyoming, as a visiting professor in 2015–16. These include Caskey Russell, Reinette Tendore and Giz Tendore, and also Tory Fodder, who wasn’t at Standing Rock, but was a great source of wisdom.