Diffracting Structure/Agency Dichotomies, Wave/Particle Dualities, and the Citational Politics of Settler Colonial Scholars Engaging Indigenous Studies Literature

Abstract

Building on Karen Barad’s philosophy of science, this paper offers a diffractive reading of quantum indeterminacy with/across the classic structure/agency dichotomy in social science scholarship. It highlights key parallels between the metaphysics of indeterminacy in both the physical and social sciences. In the course of this analysis, we draw upon relevant Indigenous studies literature. These citations are integrated into the diffractive analysis, both as a source of important and potentially transformative insight and as a performative illustration of enactment of political responsibility under conditions of ontological indeterminacy. The inclusion of the Indigenous studies citations raises questions about how to avoid problematic practices of appropriation and/or erasure. Instead of resolving this question, we will dwell within the indeterminacy it reveals and the responsibility for constructive action it brings into focus.