Colonizing the demos? Settler rights, Indigenous sovereignty, and the contested ‘structure of governance’ in Canada’s North
Settler-colonialism can consist of a struggle over the pre-political ‘structure of governance’ – over who composes the demos and how decisions should be made. This article examines two lawsuits where settlers contested the Indigenous structure of governance in Canada’s Northwest Territories. I show...
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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2019
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1956/22536 https://doi.org/10.1080/2201473X.2019.1603605 |
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ftunivbergen:oai:bora.uib.no:1956/22536 2023-05-15T17:46:39+02:00 Colonizing the demos? Settler rights, Indigenous sovereignty, and the contested ‘structure of governance’ in Canada’s North Spitzer, Aaron 2019-12-18T08:02:39Z application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/1956/22536 https://doi.org/10.1080/2201473X.2019.1603605 eng eng Taylor & Francis urn:issn:1838-0743 urn:issn:2201-473X https://hdl.handle.net/1956/22536 https://doi.org/10.1080/2201473X.2019.1603605 cristin:1723371 Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives CC BY-NC-ND http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Copyright 2019 The Author Settler Colonial Studies Peer reviewed Journal article 2019 ftunivbergen https://doi.org/10.1080/2201473X.2019.1603605 2023-03-14T17:44:49Z Settler-colonialism can consist of a struggle over the pre-political ‘structure of governance’ – over who composes the demos and how decisions should be made. This article examines two lawsuits where settlers contested the Indigenous structure of governance in Canada’s Northwest Territories. I show that in both cases settlers brandished a novel ‘tool of elimination,’ individual rights to voting, mobility and expression. I trace how settlers used this tool in a strategic two-pronged way, challenging as ‘illiberal’ restrictive laws flowing from Indigenous sovereignty and then championing race-neutral laws the promulgation of which would open the demos to settler domination. I show that courts adjudicating these challenges were compelled to grapple with the appropriate ‘framing of justice’ – with whether the relevant rights-bearer was the universal individual or the ‘constitutionally prior’ Indigenous demos. I conclude that, where the court decided on individual-rights grounds, settlers were able to extend control over the structure of governance. publishedVersion Article in Journal/Newspaper Northwest Territories University of Bergen: Bergen Open Research Archive (BORA-UiB) Northwest Territories Settler Colonial Studies 9 4 525 541 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
University of Bergen: Bergen Open Research Archive (BORA-UiB) |
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ftunivbergen |
language |
English |
description |
Settler-colonialism can consist of a struggle over the pre-political ‘structure of governance’ – over who composes the demos and how decisions should be made. This article examines two lawsuits where settlers contested the Indigenous structure of governance in Canada’s Northwest Territories. I show that in both cases settlers brandished a novel ‘tool of elimination,’ individual rights to voting, mobility and expression. I trace how settlers used this tool in a strategic two-pronged way, challenging as ‘illiberal’ restrictive laws flowing from Indigenous sovereignty and then championing race-neutral laws the promulgation of which would open the demos to settler domination. I show that courts adjudicating these challenges were compelled to grapple with the appropriate ‘framing of justice’ – with whether the relevant rights-bearer was the universal individual or the ‘constitutionally prior’ Indigenous demos. I conclude that, where the court decided on individual-rights grounds, settlers were able to extend control over the structure of governance. publishedVersion |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Spitzer, Aaron |
spellingShingle |
Spitzer, Aaron Colonizing the demos? Settler rights, Indigenous sovereignty, and the contested ‘structure of governance’ in Canada’s North |
author_facet |
Spitzer, Aaron |
author_sort |
Spitzer, Aaron |
title |
Colonizing the demos? Settler rights, Indigenous sovereignty, and the contested ‘structure of governance’ in Canada’s North |
title_short |
Colonizing the demos? Settler rights, Indigenous sovereignty, and the contested ‘structure of governance’ in Canada’s North |
title_full |
Colonizing the demos? Settler rights, Indigenous sovereignty, and the contested ‘structure of governance’ in Canada’s North |
title_fullStr |
Colonizing the demos? Settler rights, Indigenous sovereignty, and the contested ‘structure of governance’ in Canada’s North |
title_full_unstemmed |
Colonizing the demos? Settler rights, Indigenous sovereignty, and the contested ‘structure of governance’ in Canada’s North |
title_sort |
colonizing the demos? settler rights, indigenous sovereignty, and the contested ‘structure of governance’ in canada’s north |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1956/22536 https://doi.org/10.1080/2201473X.2019.1603605 |
geographic |
Northwest Territories |
geographic_facet |
Northwest Territories |
genre |
Northwest Territories |
genre_facet |
Northwest Territories |
op_source |
Settler Colonial Studies |
op_relation |
urn:issn:1838-0743 urn:issn:2201-473X https://hdl.handle.net/1956/22536 https://doi.org/10.1080/2201473X.2019.1603605 cristin:1723371 |
op_rights |
Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives CC BY-NC-ND http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Copyright 2019 The Author |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1080/2201473X.2019.1603605 |
container_title |
Settler Colonial Studies |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
525 |
op_container_end_page |
541 |
_version_ |
1766150437132566528 |