Theft Is Property!: Dispossession and Critical Theory

Radical Américas

by Robert Nichols

Drawing on Indigenous peoples' struggles against settler colonialism, Theft Is Property! reconstructs the concept of dispossession as a means of explaining how shifting configurations of law, property, race, and rights have functioned as modes of governance, both historically and in the present. Through close analysis of arguments by Indigenous scholars and activists from the nineteenth century to the present, Robert Nichols argues that dispossession has come to name a unique recursive process whereby systematic theft is the mechanism by which property relations are generated. In so doing, Nichols also brings long-standing debates in anarchist, Black radical, feminist, Marxist, and postcolonial thought into direct conversation with the frequently overlooked intellectual contributions of Indigenous peoples.

Genres: Philosophy, Indigenous, Nonfiction, Academic, Politics, Theory, History

248 pages, Paperback

Published December 20, 2019

About the author

American author, poet, playwright, and landscape architect. He was married to Grace Paley.

Reviews

[Matt Branum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nichol’s analysis of property as a legal and political category is critical and compelling.

Indigenous dispossession is the expansive context in which he situates his critique, though much of the book addresses internal debates in critical theory and Marxist political thought. He is persuasive in his assertion that dispossession should be treated as its own critical category, separate from exploitation or primitive accumulation.

A major upshot of his framing dispossession as a critical category is that this supplements a defense against the accusation that activists of who contend indigenous land is stolen are incoherent in also claiming that land cannot be owned. His analysis leaves room for voices from the underbelly of modernity to direct new conceptions of human relation to land that maintain the project of anti-colonialism is yet to be complete.

[CLOVER · Rating 5 out of 5]

jus writing this review for myself not going 2 put any efforts in but holy shizzles this wus so fugging good, esp as an intro to critical theory,, really good overview of marxist theory, and really comprehensive assessment of related fields that resulted in a holistic argument for the weight of significance of dispossession, esp in conversations of critical theory. very nice blend of historical accounts, references to past and contemporary thinkers, and contemporary impacts. veri swag veri cool 10/10 wud recommend

[Hollis]

Offers a concise set of relations between Marxism, Indigenous critique, and the Black Radical Tradition. Prior knowledge isn't a strict prerequisite, given the author's time spent on providing working definitions and genealogies for the different platforms.

[Lou Corn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half. Maybe I’ll write more of a review after my reading group meeting. I was waiting for this to deliver more on historicizing the category of land particularly as a serious object of inquiry in Indigenous Studies, but as is the conceit of the book it really only does so in context of dispossession, in other words clarifying processes that happen to or with land but not elucidating how land has been understood to the extent he does with the colonial and Marxist uses.

[Caris · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I contend that it is politics and history—not ontology or metaphysics—that set the context of our concern, and thus also supply the tools of our critique” (130).

Absolutely fantastic. This has to be the best work I’ve read that puts Indigenous and Marxist critique into conversation with one another. Nichols navigates how the language of dispossession originated, how it is used in different critical arenas today, and how it can reinvigorate new political movements against colonialism/capitalism. In certain portions of this book, he centres the voices of Indigenous and Black writers and activists in a way that is thoughtful and well-researched. A must-read.

[Robert Wechsler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nichols has a lot of fresh things to say about dispossession in the context of settler colonialism, especially in the Anglophone world. He also has a lot to say about what defines dispossession, including from the points of view of various indigenous peoples (it is not a singular concept), and taking into account the fact that dispossession assumes particular, legal views of possession that are not shared by many indigenous peoples.

How can you steal land from or, even more problematically, enter into a treaty or contract for the sale of land with people who don’t feel they own the land? To explain this, Nichols embraces the concept of “recursive dispossession”: the taking of land, by force, sale, or treaty, generates property — effectively forcing those living on the land to recognize the concept — only for the purpose of taking that property; the other elements of property ownership (not to mention indigenous peoples’ concepts of stewardship and the like) are beside the point.

The Introduction, which sets forth this idea, is incredible, and most of the book (some places there is too much critical theory for my non-academic tastes, but much of the theory discussed is more generally accessible) is excellent, as well.

[javor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant analysis of dispossession as a recursive and multifaceted process that creates its own object of appropriation. Situating itself between Indigenous/decolonial theory and Black feminist studies, Nichols shows how dispossession (of both body and land) functions through racializing assemblages that produce figures like the Indian, the slave, and the white property-owner amid shifting relations of power, property, and capital. Though it seems like the counter to dispossession is possession (or repossession), he demonstrates how oblique, relational, and nonappropriative approaches to reclaiming the commons are already being undertaken by communities all across the globe, which ends on a very hopeful note, especially given the times we’re living in.

[Emily Schrampfer · Rating 4 out of 5]

like it’s good it’s good it’s good like i get the big picture of it all and again it’s a really important topic but understanding all his theory points is intimidating and confusing i fear

[KT · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting analysis of dispossession drawing on indigenous peoples' struggles against settler colonialism

Highlights included:
How indigenous Indian Americans had no concept of private ownership of land such that their claims to the land reflect the paradoxical fact that possession does not precede dispossession but is its effect

Highlighting the "Fourth World" indigenous tradition of grappling with the dilemmas of dispossession and how Black feminists were able to navigate the fine line and contradictory desires of a simultaneous disavowal of oneself as property and avowal of oneself as (self-) proprietor

Defining the opposite of dispossession as not possession but deep, reciprocal, consensual attachment. Indigenous bodies don't relate to the land by possessing/owning it, but rather through connecting with it

Extending Marx's equating of the absurdity of private ownership of one individual by another to the private ownership of the globe by single individuals and that entire societies must hand it down in an improved condition

[Gabriel Sims-Fewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very worthwhile read, but unfortunately quite challenging, and therefore inaccessible, due to the unnecessarily convoluted writing style. The discussion is worth the work, and there are passages of refreshing lucidity throughout, but overall the book has been written with little self awareness of the elitism represented in academic obtusenous.

[ػᶈᶏϾӗ]

Very interesting - a useful and necessary supplement to euroamerican views on property.

[Janice]

Trying to do too much so not focused. Really should focus more on Indigenous peoples' struggles.

[Adam Burnett · Rating 3 out of 5]

The recursive logic of dispossession at the intersection of Indigenous, Afro-pessimism, Feminist and Marxist theory.

[Samir Mechel · Rating 4 out of 5]

First three chapters are very good; fourth is a bit weaker, but still a strong book overall. Main useful points on land relations and dispossession as a continuous process.

[Kate Kuisel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Universalizing

[Demetri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nichols does an excellent job formulating, arguing, and explaining his theory of recursivity as it pertains to the creation of property through colonialism. The evidence is thorough and fascinating. It is one of those books that kept getting me sidetracked by getting me to thumb through the footnotes and see what other resources I could find there.

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

A look at how the Indigenous peoples of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the US were left dispossessed of land and rights by the European settler-colonists. Great book with lot of in-depth history that really helped me wrap my mind around the concept of dispossession and how we got here but fair warning - it's pretty dense, so even though it's short, it takes a while to get through it.