The Unsettling Cant of Settler Colonial Studies
18th March 2025
Within hours of Hamas’ appalling attack on Israeli civilians, the “settler colonial” paradigm inserted itself into public commentary. In this slim and approachable monograph, Kirsch leads readers into the topsy-turvy world of this academic theory. Zareena Grewal, an Associate Professor at Yale, phrased it with helpful candour on X: “Israel is a murderous, genocidal settler state and Palestinians have every right to resist through armed struggle”. How did this phrase come to be used by scholars and students in the most prestigious universities of the West to rationalise the slaughter of Jewish Israelis in their homes and at music concerts?