Speculative Relations

Indigenous relations are often described in anthropological terms, or as expressions of timeless, unchanging kinship ties.

In Speculative Relations, Joseph M. Pierce challenges this view, considering the potential of these relations as a means of repairing the damages of history. Pierce approaches Indigenous art and culture not as objects of study, but through relations committed to reciprocity and care for human and more-than-human beings. Drawing on Cherokee thinking, Indigenous queer theory, literary and cultural studies, and art criticism, he illuminates pathways for understanding and resisting the ongoing damages of colonialism while pointing to future worlds and imaginaries that breathe life into Indigenous thought and practice. Analyzing a range of materials--from photography, literature, and sculpture to film and ethnography--Pierce reveals how speculation, as a form of situated knowledge production, can repair and reimagine the worlds that colonialism sought to destroy. In doing so, Pierce highlights how gestures, poetics, and embodiment can uphold tradition and harness the imaginative power of speculation to create pathways for living in good relations.

Joseph M. Pierce (Cherokee Nation) is Associate Professor in the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature at Stony Brook University and author of Argentine Intimacies: Queer Kinship in an Age of Splendor, 1890-1910.

• Publisher: Duke University Press 
  
• Publish Date: August 29, 2025
  
• Pages: 295
  
• Language: English
  
• Type: Paperback
  
• EAN/UPC: 9781478032151
  
• BISAC Categories: Anthropology - Cultural & Social, Discrimination & Race Relations