Why Does Political Science Hate American Indians?

Why Does Political Science Hate American Indians?

by Kennan Ferguson, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

Native Americans have been structurally excluded from the discipline of political science in the continental United States, as has Native epistemology and political issues. I analyze the reasons for these erasures and elisions, noting the combined effects of rejecting Native scholars, political issues, analysis, and texts. I describe how these arise from presumptions inherent to the disciplinary practices of U.S. political science, and suggest a set of alternative formulations that could expand our understanding of politics, including attention to other forms of law, constitutions, relationships to the environment, sovereignty, collective decision-making, U.S. history, and majoritarianism. Read the full article.

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Perspectives on Politics /  Volume 14,Issue 4 / December 2016 / pp. 1029-1038