I have a longstanding interest in the concept and practice of sovereignty, particularly in learning more about diverse practices of sovereignty that exceed both the temporal and political limits of Eurocentric state-sovereignty.
The word and its mainstream meaning is deeply wedded to a Eurocentric history, so there’s something fundamentally limiting about the word “sovereignty” itself, anchored as it is to the languages, cosmologies, and history of Europe.
My work on sovereignty considers the inherent coloniality of the modern state, engages alternative examples of organizing sovereignty in the present and also studies what these alternative models looked like in the past. In this work I am especially indebted to the multinational Indigenous scholars and holders of knowledge who write about and practice sovereignty on their own terms.
My latest book is called Pluriversal Sovereignty and the State: Imperial Encounters in Sri Lanka (Manchester University Press, 2023) and I have a recent forum article in Review of International Studies (2023) entitled “Pluriversal sovereignty and the state of IR“. For my previous work on this topic, please see my C.V. and reach out if you need access to writing.
Sovereignty Beyond Eurocentricity
I wrote a short chapter of this name for the Open Source book, edited by P. Ballamingie & D. Szanto ,Showing Theory to Know Theory Understanding Social Science Concepts through Illustrative Vignettes. Showing Theory Press, 2022. https://doi.org/10.22215/sktk/pa45 The purpose of the book is to take complex ideas in social science theory and make it accessible…
The Refrain of Territory: Archiving in Relief and the Politics of Post/Settler Land
I was invited by Graduate Students in the Department of History to be their keynote lecturer for an international conference entitled, “Encountering Colonialism: Land, Lives, Legacies.” It was great to be able to switch gears from what I’ve been working on of late and return to my deep love of land, sovereignty, and 19th century…
LSE Review of Books
Subversive Pedagogies was reviewed by Judith Leijdekkers and Sander Hölsgens in the LSE Review of Books Blog. I feel happy that they found value in my broadcasting of personal insecurities in my chapter, “Solidarity is a Verb: Teaching Development Activism on Stolen Land.” Check out their review of the book, edited by the wonderful Kate…
Solidarity is a Verb: Teaching Development Activism on Stolen Land
I am excited to be part of this important collaboration, led by Kate Schick and Claire Timperley. My chapter describes the anxieties and obligations of being an early career teacher who takes land acknowledgements seriously. It includes very honest personal reflections in the form of “external” and “internal” diaries over the course of the Winter…
Interview with Dr. Lynn Gehl
I had the honour of interviewing Dr. Lynn Gehl on the subject The Truth that Wampum Tells: My Debwewin on the Algonquin Land Claims Process published with Fernwood Publishing in 2014. Note that around the 16 minute mark I accidentally confate Mr. Justice James B. Macaulay with Thomas Babington Macaulay. The prior was relevant to…
Ajay Parasram 