Indigenous Theory “Unlearning the Domestic/International Divide While Teaching Indigenous Theory”

In this chapter Midzain-Gobin presents unlearning as an approach to teaching Indigenous theory in IR. By grounding the study of Indigenous theory in Indigenous peoples’ own cosmologies and ontologies, the chapter problematizes IR’s Westernized, state-centric approach that too often divides the domestic and international spheres, and recommends encouraging students to rethink, and ask questions of, the common senses about the division they bring to the classroom. As an alternative lens through which to see the international, the chapter presents the Indigenous international as a distinct sphere from the international system of sovereign states and the state-centric relationships, one that is inclusive of not only human-to-human and nation-to-nation relationships, but the non-human world as well. The chapter concludes with some recommendations for teaching Indigenous theory in IR drawn from Midzain-Gobin’s own classroom.