ABSTRACT
This chapter brings the field of critical religion and Naomi Goldenberg’s vestigial state theory into conversation with critiques of settler colonialism and heteropatriarchy. The central question investigates how discourses on religion, race and gender that enable the liberal democratic nation-state to appear progressive can also function to occlude ongoing settler colonialism. To address this question, the chapter performs a critical discourse analysis of the Liberal Party of Canada’s campaign during the 2015 federal election and the November 4th swearing-in ceremony. Drawing on Indigenous feminist and resurgence scholarship that problematizes the politics of recognition and inclusion, this chapter argues that the symbolic re-appropriation of Indigeneity bolsters the Canadian settler state’s presumed political authority without transforming foundational power imbalances. The chapter concludes that a feminist reinvention of the state, particularly one using the language of sovereignty to deconstruct heteropatriarchy and advance liberatory aims, must take settler colonialism into account.
