| Summary: | This thesis is a post-structural analysis of Inuit engagement in health governance in the new territory of Nunavut. The creation of Nunavut brings decision-making power to a largely Inuit population through both a land claims agreement and the establishment of a public government. As such, it marks a new moment in the history of Aboriginal governance in Canada and in relations between North and South, Inuit and non-Inuit. The establishment of Nunavut is the result of a decades-long Inuit struggle for self-determination. This struggle is an articulation of citizenship, of how Inuit think about who they are within communities and within the nation. This struggle does not suggest that citizenship is simply about membership in the nation, nor is it simply about the rights that come with that membership. It suggests, instead, that citizenship is how people engage in the governance of their lives. This study is based on a qualitative methodology including fieldwork in three Nunavut communities, interviews, and document analysis. I consider how relations between North and South, Inuit and non-Inuit have shaped health governance in the Central and Eastern Arctic. I explore how various conceptions of health and self are implicated in how citizens participate in health governance in Nunavut. This research makes several important contributions to the study of health, ethnicity, governance, and citizenship. It contributes to a current emphasis in the social sciences on notions of health and citizenship as contingent and variable. It points to the need for new research on the implications of citizenship struggles in remote communities for health governance. Finally, this research points to the instability of power relations and joins in efforts to rethink the way we organize and govern health and our lives. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
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