"We are here to stay": an introduction (and a few interrogations) to settler colonialism

Abstract

Settler Colonial Studies proposes a differentiation between franchise colonialism and settler colonialism, based on Patrick Wolfe’s pioneering theories, according to which in colonialism per se the colonizer exploits colonized labour to, eventually, return to the Imperial metropolis. In settler colonialism, on the other hand, the settler, aiming at possessing the land belonging to indigenous people, “comes to stay”. Settler colonialism would therefore be a structure, rather than an event, in the life of the colonized.  The main logic of settler colonialism, according to Wolfe, is the (literal or metaphorical) elimination of indigenous people. Departing from Wolfe’s ideas, Lorenzo Veracini refines and develops concepts, themes and theoretical tools, aiming at organizing Settler Colonial Studies as a discipline. Theories on settler colonialism have been developed in an anglophone context, aiming at examining this type of domination as it occurs mainly in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and, at present, have been little acknowledged in Brazil. After presenting some of the basic tenets of Settler Colonial Studies, this article considers the possible applicability of Settler Colonialism  to the Brazilian context, encouraging reflexion on the expansion and adaptation of this mostly anglophone field of studies to new historical and cultural environments.