Sovereignty and Indigenous Resistance in the Modern World: The Case of Athabascan Oil Sands Development
Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas have long been threatened by unsustainable development in their traditional territories and are today on the forefronts of resistance against harmful development projects. Underlying some of the efforts of indigenous peoples in the United States and Canada...
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ftcwashingtonuni:oai:digitalcommons.cwu.edu:polisci-1008 2023-05-15T15:26:02+02:00 Sovereignty and Indigenous Resistance in the Modern World: The Case of Athabascan Oil Sands Development Wickstrom, Stefanie 2014-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/polisci/9 https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=polisci unknown ScholarWorks@CWU https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/polisci/9 https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=polisci Political Science Faculty Scholarship indigenous peoples First Nations oils sands Athabasca River basin Alberta Political Science text 2014 ftcwashingtonuni 2022-10-20T20:24:48Z Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas have long been threatened by unsustainable development in their traditional territories and are today on the forefronts of resistance against harmful development projects. Underlying some of the efforts of indigenous peoples in the United States and Canada is the notion that Tribes or First Nations might somehow make development good for indigenous people by exercising “sovereignty.” Sovereignty and development, however, are imposed regimes. Settler states and corporations have been the ones to define and exercise sovereignty to direct development. Wresting labor and natural resources from indigenous peoples and other exploited populations has been essential to capitalist development. Transformative politics is impossible when indigenous peoples conform to values and systems of governance that have long been the means for their exploitation. Aspiring to “legitimize” their control over lands and resources has precluded indigenous autonomy and anti-systemic struggle. Competition between communities and indigenous leaders for advantages and opportunities promised by developers undermines pan-indigenous organizing and divides communities. This chapter presents an overview of the exploitation of oil sands bitumen that threatens the peoples and ecosystems of the Athabasca River basin in the Canadian province of Alberta. It sets forth some of the responses of Algonquin and Athabascan communities and First Nations organizations. The objectives are to illustrate that sovereignty is a key component of a losing game for indigenous peoples and to inspire further consideration of how indigenous resistance might be constructed to provide greater protection to peoples and ecosystems being sacrificed to capitalist development. Text Athabasca River Athabascan First Nations Central Washington University: ScholarWorks Athabasca River Canada |
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indigenous peoples First Nations oils sands Athabasca River basin Alberta Political Science |
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indigenous peoples First Nations oils sands Athabasca River basin Alberta Political Science Wickstrom, Stefanie Sovereignty and Indigenous Resistance in the Modern World: The Case of Athabascan Oil Sands Development |
topic_facet |
indigenous peoples First Nations oils sands Athabasca River basin Alberta Political Science |
description |
Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas have long been threatened by unsustainable development in their traditional territories and are today on the forefronts of resistance against harmful development projects. Underlying some of the efforts of indigenous peoples in the United States and Canada is the notion that Tribes or First Nations might somehow make development good for indigenous people by exercising “sovereignty.” Sovereignty and development, however, are imposed regimes. Settler states and corporations have been the ones to define and exercise sovereignty to direct development. Wresting labor and natural resources from indigenous peoples and other exploited populations has been essential to capitalist development. Transformative politics is impossible when indigenous peoples conform to values and systems of governance that have long been the means for their exploitation. Aspiring to “legitimize” their control over lands and resources has precluded indigenous autonomy and anti-systemic struggle. Competition between communities and indigenous leaders for advantages and opportunities promised by developers undermines pan-indigenous organizing and divides communities. This chapter presents an overview of the exploitation of oil sands bitumen that threatens the peoples and ecosystems of the Athabasca River basin in the Canadian province of Alberta. It sets forth some of the responses of Algonquin and Athabascan communities and First Nations organizations. The objectives are to illustrate that sovereignty is a key component of a losing game for indigenous peoples and to inspire further consideration of how indigenous resistance might be constructed to provide greater protection to peoples and ecosystems being sacrificed to capitalist development. |
format |
Text |
author |
Wickstrom, Stefanie |
author_facet |
Wickstrom, Stefanie |
author_sort |
Wickstrom, Stefanie |
title |
Sovereignty and Indigenous Resistance in the Modern World: The Case of Athabascan Oil Sands Development |
title_short |
Sovereignty and Indigenous Resistance in the Modern World: The Case of Athabascan Oil Sands Development |
title_full |
Sovereignty and Indigenous Resistance in the Modern World: The Case of Athabascan Oil Sands Development |
title_fullStr |
Sovereignty and Indigenous Resistance in the Modern World: The Case of Athabascan Oil Sands Development |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sovereignty and Indigenous Resistance in the Modern World: The Case of Athabascan Oil Sands Development |
title_sort |
sovereignty and indigenous resistance in the modern world: the case of athabascan oil sands development |
publisher |
ScholarWorks@CWU |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/polisci/9 https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=polisci |
geographic |
Athabasca River Canada |
geographic_facet |
Athabasca River Canada |
genre |
Athabasca River Athabascan First Nations |
genre_facet |
Athabasca River Athabascan First Nations |
op_source |
Political Science Faculty Scholarship |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/polisci/9 https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=polisci |
_version_ |
1766356604667559936 |