Unmuting conversations in global development

Abstract

We live in the aftermath of the colonial onslaught on earth and humanity, with implications possibly beyond even the imaginable. In an effort to address such implications, this research explores and contrasts queer and Indigenous theories and activism and at their intersection and seek insight and capacitiesfor learning. The study proposes counter-hegemonic alliances to bridge the divide and rule – divide et impera – that creates gaps between queer and Indigenous academia and activism. Three gaps in this relationship are identified: within academia, within activism, and between academia and activism. What characterises these gaps, and how they may be bridged, constitute the research problem of this thesis. Of particular interest is how the respective contributions of queer and Indigenous theories and activism, and conversations between them, may be unmuted in dominant discourse on global development theory and practice.