The biopolitics of resilient indigeneity and the radical gamble of resistance

* The title of this paper is inspired by Prozorov’s (2007, p. 76) description of resistance as a radical gamble.

Abstract

This paper probes the current empathetic common ground on indigeneity in international politics and views the care for indigeneity as the loving embrace of biopower. First, we argue that indigeneity is a target of particular biopolitical aspirations that resonate with the resilience discourse. By engaging in a critical discussion of resilience as a technique of neoliberal governance we identify adaptation, vulnerability and care as the building blocks of indigenous resilience. They entail a particular script on the proper indigenous subjectivity. Second, we discuss the ways in which resistance could be conceptualised in the context of this power that works through resilience. Resistance to biopower is a gamble that involves gains and losses that are impossible to assess beforehand. We ponder care, victimhood and hope as sites of resistance that could offer ways to view indigeneity in more political terms than those defined by resilience alone.

Keywords:

• Biopower
• indigeneity
• resilience
• resistance

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

* The title of this paper is inspired by Prozorov’s (2007, p. 76) description of resistance as a radical gamble.

1. The empirical examples used in this paper derive from our respective research materials collected in the contexts of the Arctic Council and the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. These materials include statements delivered by representatives of indigenous peoples’ organisations, states and UN agencies in the sessions of the Permanent Forum and science-policy reports published under the auspices of the Arctic Council.