The Third Space of Sovereignty: The Postcolonial Politics of U.S.–Indigenous Relations (Indigenous Americas) Paperback – October 5, 2007

This book is oriented toward folks who have more than a passing interest in these issues. It uses some technical language to illuminate Native american issues but leaves the reader with an enriched understanding of indigenous responses to and resistance against national Indian policy.

In this important book, Bruyneel turns the post-colonialist lens back on the US. The book does an exquisite job detailing the various contests and spheres of sovereignty at play in indigenous struggles. Bruyneel gives equal attention to settler and settled, and avoids the cheap shots of American-Indigenous politics, thinking seriously about the questions of power and legitimacy that define American-Indigenous relations. This books is highly readable, easily teachable and, most importantly, politically engaged in a way that disrespects disciplinary boundaries in American studies, American political development and political theory.

Bruyneel's work is particularly important for anyone studying American politics who imagines that post-colonial analysis is something that takes place elsewhere.