Contested Citizenship Education in Settler Colonies on First Nations Land

Citizenship education in British settler colonies is no straightforward issue. The history of colonization, imbued with racism, and the ongoing presence of settler peoples and their institutions and government on unceded First Nations land, creates deep citizenship dilemmas. For many years British settler states, such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and America, have sought to silence and subdue First Nations peoples through policies and practices that marginalize Indigenous languages, knowledges, and histories. The institution of education has played a key role in these acts of marginalization. This chapter explores the ethical and political dilemmas of citizenship and education in these contexts. It examines the citizenship tensions produced by settler colonies occupying First Nations land, the making of the settler citizen through education systems dominated by whiteness, and the limit points for citizenship education under these conditions. It is argued that justice and citizenship education may be incompatible and that a stance of “anti-citizenship” may be the only possibility for a pathway toward justice in these settler colonial contexts