Unsettling Colonial Automobilities: Criminalisation and Contested Sovereignties

Unsettling Colonial Automobilities explores the vehicle's role in imposing colonialism on Indigenous people and proposes an Indigenous automobility that reclaims sovereignty over place and centricity. It challenges unrestricted mobility in modernity and highlights the vehicle's impact on Indigenous communities, examining how they are criminalized for non-compliance with vehicle regulations, used as a tool of racial violence, and utilize vehicles for protection, cultural expression, and reconnection with their land.

Format: Hardback
Length: 268 pages
Publication date: 14 December 2023
Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited

Unsettling Colonial Automobilities delves into the profound impact of vehicles on Indigenous communities, shedding light on their role in enforcing colonialism. Through extensive fieldwork within First Nations communities, insightful accounts from Indigenous scholars and activists across Australia, New Zealand/Aotearoa, Canada, and the United States, as well as cinematic and literary representations, this groundbreaking contribution challenges the notion of unrestricted mobility in modernity. It highlights the devastating consequences of vehicles on Indigenous cultures, examining how Indigenous people are criminalized for non-compliance with vehicle regulations. Moreover, the book explores the vehicle as a tool of racial violence, shedding light on the ongoing struggles faced by Indigenous communities. Chapters delve into the ways in which Indigenous communities utilize vehicles for protection, cultural expression, and reconnection with their ancestral lands. By demonstrating the vehicle's involvement in colonial violence and its potential for empowering Indigenous cultures, Unsettling Colonial Automobilities acknowledges the significance of human movement, migration, and boundary-transcendence in modern life while also acknowledging the dark history associated with these phenomena. This thought-provoking work serves as a crucial contribution to understanding the complex relationship between vehicles, colonialism, and Indigenous sovereignty.

Weight: 434g
Dimension: 160 x 238 x 14 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781800710832