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From Indigenous Economies to Market-Based Self-Governance: A Feminist Political Economy Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2011

Rauna Kuokkanen
Rauna Kuokkanen*
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
*
Rauna Kuokkanen, Department of Political Science and Aboriginal Studies Program, North Borden Building, 563 Spadina Avenue, University of Toronto, Toronto ON, M5S 2J7, rauna.kuokkanen@utoronto.ca
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Abstract

Abstract. This paper examines the apparent contradiction between the current tendency of many Indigenous groups and their political institutions to embrace the capitalist economic model as the one and only solution in establishing contemporary Indigenous self-governance, on the one hand, and on the other, the detrimental force of the market economy on Indigenous societies, past and present. The starting point is the following question. If the global market economy historically played a significant role in the loss of political and economic autonomy of Indigenous societies and women, how meaningful or sustainable is it to seek to (re)build contemporary Indigenous governance on the very economic model that was largely responsible for undermining it in the first place? Shouldn't this history be taken into consideration when discussing and shaping models and policies for contemporary Indigenous governance and hence be more critical of the standard economic development frameworks hailed as the path toward self-governance?

Résumé. Cet article examine l'apparente contradiction entre la tendance actuelle de nombreux groupes autochtones et de leurs institutions politiques à adopter le modèle économique capitaliste contemporain en tant que seule et unique solution pour constituer une autonomie gouvernementale autochtone d'une part, et de l'autre, les forces néfastes de l'économie de marché dans les sociétés autochtones, passées et présentes. Au départ, se pose la question suivante : si l'économie de marché mondiale a historiquement joué un rôle important dans la perte d'autonomie politique et économique des sociétés autochtones et des femmes, jusqu'à quel point est-il pertinent ou viable de chercher à bâtir ou à rebâtir l'autonomie gouvernementale contemporaine des peuples autochtones sur le même modèle économique qui a été largement responsable de la saper en premier lieu? Cette dimension historique ne devrait-elle pas être prise en considération lors de l'examen et de l'élaboration des modèles et des politiques de gouvernance autochtone contemporains et, par conséquent, inciter à une vision plus critique des cadres de développement économique convenus qui sont salués comme le chemin vers l'autogouvernance?

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 44 , Issue 2 , June 2011 , pp. 275 - 297
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 2011

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