Settler Societies: Introduction

From what I could understand from the reading, it seems as though the introduction is basically proposing an argument about who were really the first settlers in the U.S. So far this book is a tough read for me, so I really could not get a grasp on anything that I could relate to or elaborate on. One thing that did catch my eye was when the author talked about how women in these indigenous societies had lack of power.

The author stated that "social scientists of European origins have tended to view the gender division of labour in indigenous societies through Eurocentric and sexist lenses that refracted womens lack of power in the punlic sphere". This quote has great relations to how women in the U.S are viewed today. There was a quote in the book that had me confused because I could not understand what the author was trying to say. It seemed as though the author was trying to credit people of color/minorities, but at the same time it could have been the other way around. The author said that "migrant women and women from racial and ethnic minorities have historically had greater rates of labour force participation than longer-established or ethnically dominant women".

When the author talked about nation and state, I agreed with his definition and focus of what "state" was. He said that state "variously focus on its legal-juridical and institutional composition, or its role with respect to capitalism, class, gender and race relations". To my understanding, I feel asthough he hit all the major points within a state.