UBC Sociology’s Distinguished Speaker Series hosts Dr. Vanessa Watts (McMaster) for a talk titled, “The Sociological Indian: Representations of Indigeneity in Canadian and American Sociology Journals.”
Who are Indigenous peoples in sociology? Is there such a thing as an “Indigenous social”? In this talk, representations of Indigeneity will be explored in thematic categories found across five sociology journals from the US and Canada (Canadian Journal of Sociology, Canadian Review of Sociology, American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Social Forces). Indigenous-focused research in sociology as a subject has been longstanding in the discipline. As such, sociological ideas about what constitutes Indigenous social realities have developed, and in some instances, these ideas have entrenched tropes about who Indigenous peoples are. Analyzing scholarship from the US and Canada, this research aims to understand how sociologists have either challenged state interests in Indigenous issues, promoted them, and/or reflected Indigenous social realities.
