Prairie Rising: Indigenous Youth, Decolonization, and the Politics of Intervention

‘Through narratives and images conveyed in the stories of provocative characters, Dhillon makes rich theoretical arguments accessible to readers. Indeed, it is Dhillon’s candid, engaging, and imaginative language that makes this book a pleasure to read.’

Janique Dubois, The Journal of Native Studies, vol 37:01:2017

‘This book is extremely rich… It makes a number of contributions to fields such as anthropology, sociology, political science, youth studies, and the like. It is moreover a model of how to bridge academic scholarship and responsible community advocacy.’

Robert Nichols, Theory and Event vol20:04:2017

"By offering a politics of materiality derived from the lived experiences of urban Indigenous youth caught in the teeth of colonial violence, Prairie Rising offers a productive ground for an effective decolonial praxis."

Melanie K. Yazzie, NAIS, vol 5 no 2

"Prairie Rising is an ambitious first book, and makes helpful contributions to the areas of youth studies, the anthropology of the modern state, discourses and institutional practices of neoliberalism, as well as Indigenous resistance and survivance under settler colonial conditions on Turtle Island. Prairie Rising is a useful and thorough reminder that our neighbours to the north themselves have a long way to go before they can speak of true reconciliation, much less justice."

Smaran Dayal, Critical Ethnic Studies

"In Prairie Rising, Jaskiran Dhillon completely unmasks the discourse of ‘participation’ as a neoliberal, multicultural, and settler-colonial governmental ruse."

Audra Simpson, Professor, Department of Anthropology, Columbia University

"Demonstrating how Indigenous youth on the prairies bear the brunt of ongoing structural and symbolic colonial violence, Jaskiran Dhillon’s Prairie Rising makes a compelling case for the urgent need to historicize and politicize present day Indigenous social conditions by calling for critical changes in curriculum, hiring and public programming. If we are truly committed to reconciliation, the political analysis offered in this accessible ethnographic book must become the foundation of decolonizing education in psychology, educational studies, criminal justice, and child welfare."

Verna St. Denis, Department of Educational Foundations, University of Saskatchewan

"Prairie Rising offers an incisive critique of how the state facilitates regimes of intervention through a discourse of participation. Jaskiran Dhillon’s beautifully written, deeply engaging, and well-argued critique of inclusion is truly a pleasure to read."

Sherene H. Razack, Penney Kanner Endowed Chair in Women’s Studies, University of California, Los Angeles