THE "INDIAN" OF FOUR CONTINENTS: READING FOR HORIZONTAL RELATIONS OF VIOLENCE, COMPLICITY, AND THE MAKING OF WHITE SETTLER COLONIALISM by Shaista Patel A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Social Justice Education University of Toronto © Copyright by Shaista Patel, 2018 The "Indian" of Four Continents: Reading for Horizontal Relations of Violence, Complicity, and the Making of White Settler Colonialism Shaista Patel Doctor of Philosophy Department of Social Justice Education University of Toronto 2018 Abstract This research study asks: How do we theorize the place of non-Black people of colour vis-à- vis Indigenous peoples and Black people in North America? Paying attention to transnational power relations, and colonial entanglements of differential racialization, I particularly inquire into the place of South Asian diaspora in North America. This study draws upon critical Indigenous, Black, anti-caste, and transnational feminist theories to argue for the urgent need to place analyses of white settler colonialism here in conversation with other entangled histories, presented through discrepant spatialities and temporalities, in order to examine what we know and have yet to learn about entanglements of race, Indigeneity, gender, sexuality, caste, and relations of labor. My “unlikely archive” (Lowe, 2015) of complicity consists of a wide array of legal, representational and cultural artifacts. Drawing upon Edward Said’s contrapuntal reading of texts, and Lisa Lowe’s methodology of paying attention to past conditional temporality, this study travels from analyzing lingering coloniality in a series of photographs titled An Indian from India by a contemporary South Asian artist to Bengal of 19th century where I study Neel Darpan, an anti-colonial protest play. In both these chapters, I show how anti-colonial resistance narratives can often ii replicate the logics of Empire and leave the very people who are the most marginalized subjects of history as subaltern, silent, and vestigial. My chapter on the figure of the wide circulation of the "Indian Queen" in 18th century Europe examines how she is formed at the nexus of race, coloniality, and capitalism but also understudied or suppressed histories of Europe's Crusades against its Muslim Other. This analysis places anti-Muslim sentiments of the Old World into a much- needed conversation with conquest of the New World. In my last chapter, I study "Indian Arrival Day" a national holiday in the Caribbean celebrating the first arrival of Indians as indentured laborers. This chapter adds to the growing scholarship that moves us away from binaries of free versus unfree or coercive labor and towards more complex readings of modern racialized division of labor. iii Acknowledgements I begin with thanking Allah and the spiritual and temporal leader of us Shi’i Ismaili Muslims, Prince Karim Aga Khan, for everything I have ever achieved in life, and for giving me the courage to live all the blessings and be patient with what I have lost. This dissertation has taught me a lot about my own histories, but also about the limits of my knowledge, about the limits of my understanding of the world. The more I read and wrote, the less, I realized, I know. Throughout this process, holding my hand was my supervisor, Dr. Eve Tuck. Eve, I do not have enough words to thank you. Your generosity, writings, ethics, politics, readings, teachings, mentorship –all of it taught me how to orient myself to the world. I am going out of this PhD program holding onto every word, every advice of yours. You selflessly gave so much of yourself to my work. Thank you! To my committee members, Dr. Jodi Byrd and Dr. Dia Da Costa, I owe deep gratitude. You have shown me what brilliance and generosity look like. Without you three, my dissertation would not be what it is today. To my very generous and supportive examiner Dr. Piya Chatterjee and internal/external examiner, Dr. Carol-Ann Burke, thank you. I will always remain grateful for your careful and very generous reviews of my thesis, your insightful suggestions for future development of this work, and your support and encouragement. Each and every one of you taught me that intellect without generosity means nothing. Thank you. Salima Charania, you have been my constant support for last 15+ years. When I first met you, I knew that I had found a sister in you. Our soul connection is deep. Thank you for always being there for me, for showering me with so much adoration, support, and strength. You keep me grounded and I am so grateful for that. Ethel Tungohan, who else can I talk to about Bollywood, politics, scholarship, and people around us, and that too all in one conversation? Gossiping with you is the kind of feminist I am. Your brilliance, love, generosity and support for me have been my sustenance for all these years and your friendship remains invaluable no matter where I go and what I do. Krittika Ghosh, aka my Sullu, you continued to believe in me even when I didn’t. I will always remain grateful for your generous love and friendship. You’ve shown me how to celebrate life and for that I am grateful. Kate Milley, I have had some of the best, most insightful conversations about my project with you in your car. You were the first one to hear my ideas and confirm that yes, this was indeed a dissertation. You have been nothing but supportive and a true friend all these years. Jiji Voronka, there’s nobody I have sent more Skype messages to than you during my ‘writing time’. Those Skype conversations gave me the courage to write even when the skies were grey and there were winter storms outside. Your love, support, and friendship in helping me navigate academia has been so very generous. EQually importantly, thank you for all the sushi dates! Tammy George, thank you for the healing hands, love, and listening ears. To Sobia Shaikh and Vannina Sztainbok, thank you for being with me throughout this journey, for listening to me, and giving me advice, love, support, and true friendship. iv I owe so much gratitude to these friends who read drafts of various chapters, discussed my ideas with me, helped me think and rethink my orientation to my work, and constantly pushed me to be more ethical. Thank you Nisha Nath for reading drafts of my chapters and encouraging me to keep writing. To Rob Innes, your bad sense of humour but also brilliance has helped me so much. To Chris Andersen, Huma Dar, Zainab Amadahy, Hope Windu, Tiffany King, Alex da Costa, Erin Morton, Nishant Upadhyay, Mariam Georgis, Kendra Ann-Pitt, Sheelah McLean, and Susan Cahill, thank you for your constant friendship and support. I am very grateful to my teachers at OISE and WGSI. Thank you for all that you have taught me. To Kristine Pearson and Sezen Atacan, what would I have done without you? Sezen, I came to your office with missed deadlines for forms and panic attacks more often than I should have. Thank you for always being there for me, and for your patience with me even when your desk had so much work to attend to. During the process of completing my PhD, I lost my Dad. But this dissertation and everything good coming my way has only been possible because of his prayers. Thank you, Pappa, for watching over me even when you’re no longer here in body. You never stopped praying for me. To my Mum, I owe it all. I have never worried about much in life because I knew that your prayers are always here with me, Mummy. There is no way I can ever repay you even a bit for what you do for your children every day. To Akbain, I owe so much. It was your financial and emotional support, your taking Dad’s place afterwards that ever made this dissertation possible. I could not have stayed in academia or write this dissertation without your love and generosity. To Appa, thank you for all the makeup and bags you kept buying for me. They were the core sustenance of a weepy graduate student. Thank you both for being the best siblings ever! To Ramzan Bhai, thank you for becoming another brother to me. As for Anniyah (Anu) and Roham Ali (Amam), you two are my world! What more can I say? You two are the two halves of my heart. Daa would have done nothing in this life without you two here. Thank you for being here and constantly teaching me life lessons. I wrote this dissertation with the hope that by the time you are old enough to choose to read it, the world around you is a kinder, less racist and less colonial place. Much love to my niece, Freddie for being here in my life. You make me laugh with joy! My deep gratitude also to Wayne and Gourisankar Uncle for their help. Khatun Auntie, thank you for your constant love, support, and TV watching with me. Hartej Gill, this journey would not have begun without your love, support, and mentorship. Shukriya! I have been spoiled with love in the process of writing my dissertation. I am sure there are so many people and moments I am forgetting at this stage of being overwhelmed with love and joy. But thank you for holding me in your heart and in your prayers. I have written this dissertation with passion and love and it could not have been possible without you all. v Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ...............................................................................................