Settler Colonialism Kritik

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Thesis - The set col kritik, also known as the settler colonialism kritik, is one of the more common kritiks run on the circuit. While topical critical affirmatives can be run, set col kritiks are generally run more on the negative. The general idea is that the event of settlers having stolen the land of indigenous peoples through force and proceeding to eradicate and actively exterminate both native people and their culture, is a structure not simply event (There's a common Rifkin 13 card that supports this general idea) and that event structures every aspect of the political systems of these settler countries such as the US, parts of China and Australia. The legal system is dependent on eradicating indigenous peoples to sustain itself and that of settlers.

Link - The links will generally depend on the idea that the aff is furthering and engaging in settler colonial structures through their fiated or prefiated actions, thereby engaging in active genocide. For instance, in the Jan Feb 2022-2023 season LD topic, Resolved : Justice requires Open Borders for Human Migration, a common link would be that open borders would allow for immigrants to further settle on indigenous land without indigenous people's jurisdiction.

Impact - The impact of this kritik is simple - the aff participates in active genocide and cultural assimilation of natives, and they shouldn't get the ballot for that. The aff participating in this mindset is actively reconstructing settler colonialism within debate.

Alt - There are many different alternatives for the kritik, but the most common are decolonization and refusal. Refusal as an alternative is simply refusing the ideas of settler colonialism in debate through rejecting the aff. Decolonization is giving indigenous people immediate control of their land, which can function as an advocacy prefiat in the real world as well as within the plan, making for great alt solves case arguments, in which the world of the alternative can take the affirmative's impacts.


Popular authors for this Kritik are Mark Rifkin and Tuck and Yang, although there is a big field on this literature branch

Good reads - 'Decolonization is Not a Metaphor' by Tuck and Yang, available for free online

Great Debaters who run set col as affs or negs are Harker Ansh Sheth Heights Alice Waters Strath Haven Ava Manaker Lake Highland Prep Harris Layson (As well as a lot of other debaters on Lake Highland overall)