Manu Karuka

Manu Karuka is Associate Professor and Chair of American Studies at Barnard College, where he has taught since 2014. He holds a joint affiliation with Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. His research examines imperialism through Indigenous, labor, and decolonial frameworks.

Research interests include:

• Indigenous critiques of political economy
• National liberation and Third World studies
• Settler colonialism and racial capitalism
• Transnational labor migration
• Decolonial epistemology

Publications analyze colonial infrastructure (e.g., transcontinental railroads), migration under U.S. power, and theoretical critiques of colonial knowledge systems. Works frequently integrate Indigenous sovereignty, racial justice, and political economy.