Audra Simpson

When we talk about resolving relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, most discussions are concentrated on political recognition and reconciliation. In her 2014 book Mohawk Interruptus, Audra Simpson proposes an alternative: refusal.

Pushing back against the widely-presented idea that questions of statehood, territory and multicultural politics are settled, Simpson visits the Wheeler Centre to make her arguments for alternative notions of sovereignty and cultural recognition amongst First Peoples.

Simpson is a Mohawk scholar based at Columbia University, whose research combines ethnography, history and political theory in her study of race, diversity and statehood. Simpson’s work is concerned with how power is experienced, shared and institutionalised in relations between settler states and indigenous communities. Can sovereignty exist within sovereignty? What legal and diplomatic tensions would that introduce … and what would justice look like?

In a time when Australian society is engaged in debates around constitutional recognition, a treaty and community closures, this event will offer an alternative view on local dialogues – drawn from the insights, challenges and tactics of First Peoples across the world.

After presenting a lecture, Simpson will further unpack her provocative arguments with Emma Kowal, author of the acclaimed Trapped in the Gap: Doing Good in Indigenous Australia.

Presented in partnership with the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University.