Rhetoric and Settler Inertia: Strategies of Canadian Decolonization

Rhetoric and Settler Inertia: Strategies of Canadian Decolonization explores how communication might accelerate the decolonial process in Canada, where colonization dates back 478 years and counting. Tracing a middle path between Indigenous-focused calls for resurgence, and idealistic appeals to settler conscience, Patrick Belanger explores communication forms that can generate settler support for decolonization. Indigenous flourishing is crucial, and is pragmatic to mobilize the settler majority’s political power. Emphasizing the importance of both Indigenous and settler audiences, the book suggests the promise of decolonial rhetoric framed in the language of mutual benefit.