Imposing Liberalism
Aboriginal
Experiences
of
Liberalism:
• The key to understanding how
liberalism has been viewed by
different groups in North America
is based on differing world views
– First Nations Worldview
• Collectivism
• The Laws of Relationships
among all living things
• Interconnectedness of people
within their community and
their natural environment
– European Worldview
• Liberalism
– Rule of law
– Individual
– Capitalism (competition, efficiency
and profit)
• These very different worldviews
led to differing
opinions/interpretations of the
Treaties that were signed by both
parties
Differing perspectives on treaties:
•
•
Assumptions behind the treaties
– Aboriginal
• Harmony both with the present and
with the past (traditions)
– European
• Change/progress
Royal Proclamation of 1763
– Aboriginal peoples lived on traditional
lands
– Interest in these lands belonged to
groups and nations not individuals
– On the Crown (The British Monarch)
could buy or accept aboriginal lands
– The Crown generally required an
agreement to obtain lands from
Aboriginal people
– Aboriginal people were under the
Crown’s protection
– The Royal Proclamation of 1763 stated
that the ‘nations and tribes of Indian's
were recognized as distinct peoples and
nations who had the power to govern
themselves and negotiate with the
Crown as a sovereign nation
Perspectives on the treaties:
First Nations
Government of Canada
Treaties are agreements made
between sovereign nations,
upheld by oral tradition
Treaties are agreements made
by interested parties, upheld by
a written document
Relationship with the land is of Land is a resource that can be
collective and spiritual nature; owned by individuals for their
land is provided by the Creator, exclusive use
and people are to exist in
harmony with the land
Treaties are established to
Treaties were established to
share the land with newcomers ‘clear the way’ for European
settlement
The Indian Act of 1876
•
Defined Indian
–
•
fragmented Aboriginal peoples
Legislated Colonization
–
These social control aspects of the Indian Act placed Indians in the position of a colonized people.
•
•
Concentrated Government Authority
–
–
–
–
The Indian Act was and still is, a piece of social legislation of very broad scope which regulates and controls
virtually every aspect of Native Life.
The act was administered directly in Aboriginal committees by the Indian agent.
These new white chiefs were to displace traditional Aboriginal leaders in order to bring in a new way of
living which was in line with the governments.
Clause 25 of the Act obtained the governments guardianship over Indian lands.
•
•
"Instead of implementing the treaties and offering much needed protection to Indian rights the Indian Act subjugated to
colonial rule the very people whose rights if was supposed to protect". Harold Cardinal
They had extraordinary administrative and discretionary power
Defined Enfranchisement Process
–
The Act spelled out a process of enfranchisement whereby Indians could acquire full Canadian citizenship by
relinquishing system there ties to their community.
•
–
–
The cost of Canadian citizenship for an Aboriginal person are surpassed the cost for a immigrant from
another country.
The government of Canada saw the Indian Act as a temporary measure to control Aboriginal Peoples until
they were fully assimilated through enfranchisement.
•
–
This involved giving up ones’ culture and traditions, and any rights to land.
Acculturation through enfranchisement clearly failed in Canada, as the rate of enfranchisement was extremely low.
In the 1960s this policy changed and Indians were granted the right to vote in federal elections.
•
This was the first time that the government acknowledged citizenship for Aboriginal Peoples without the condition of the
assimilation into the Canadian white society.
Indian Act 1876...
• Forced Assimilation??
• From the inception of this Act, First
Nations political institutions and
forms of government were ignored
• Behaviours were controlled by the
Government, First Nations people
were seen as wards of the state
(basically the same arrangement as
children to their parents)
• First Nations peoples were
encouraged to leave their reserves
and get full citizenship
• The Act also actively eroded their
collective rights and cultural
heritage
– Residential Schools
• Intent of the policies matter...what
was the intent behind these
policies in Canada?
Legacy in Canada:
• 1991 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples
– Was critical of the past actions by the government
– Suggested some change both in how grievances
would be addressed and on how the government
should move forward
• As these are recommendations only there has
been much debate on what should be acted
on and how this issue should be resolved
– First Nations self government
Promoting Liberalism in the World
• Imposing Liberal Ideology
– There are two reasons why an ideology would be
imposed on a people
• National Interest
– Which is imposing liberalism to reduce or eliminate threats
(terrorist/environmental/economic)
• Humanitarianism
– Which is imposing liberalism for moral or ethical reasons, such
as to improve living conditions or stop human rights violations
The argument of Safety:
• “The history of the world is a history of war yet, significantly, in
history: democracies do not wage wars on other democracies”
• So, then establishing a democracy even if war is needed is a
necessary, and defensible foreign policy...
–
–
–
–
Germany 1933-1939
USSR 1930-1989
Iraq 1991 and 2003
Afghanistan 2001
• The problem:
– Who decides?
– Premption?
– What is democracy? What is liberalism?
• Who gets to define these terms??
• Do they mean the same thing?
Case Studies:
•
Turkey and the European Union (EU)
– Good example of economic interests being used to
impose Liberal values
– Turkey has to meet some basic criterion to enter the
EU (democracy, Rule of Law, human rights, and a free
market economy)
•
Canada in Afghanistan
– Goal was to limit the ability of further attacks from
Afghanistan against Western powers after 9/11, 2001
– Overthrow of the Taliban government as establish a
democratic government based on liberal principles
•
•
Security, literacy, and economics that are based on legally
produced products
USA in Iraq
– Viewed by the American government as part of the
attacks 9/11
– Saddam Hussein was seen as being linked due to his
weapons of mass destruction (WMD) as a possible
terrorist state
– Goal was to establish a democratic government in the
region that would be friendly to the West
Assignment:
• ‘Memories of Treaty Day’
– Page 222 question 1
• ‘The Potlatch’
– Page 225-226 Questions 1-3
• Knowledge and Understanding
– Page 230 Questions 1-4
• ‘Canada’s Involvement in Afghanistan’
– Page 235 Questions 1-4
• Knowledge and Understanding
– Page 238 Questions 1-5
• ‘Hati’s Troubled Democracy’
– Page 239-240 Questions 1-5
• Further Exploration
– Page 241 Questions 1-3 and Question 6
Challenging Liberalism
Challenges to Liberalism from other ways of thinking:
Aboriginal
Perspectives
Communism
Feminism
Socialism
Liberal Values
•Individual Rights
and Freedoms
•Self Interest
•The Rule of Law
•Economic
Freedoms
•Private Property
Environmentalism
Religious
Perspectives
Aboriginal Perspectives and Ways of
thinking:
•
Aboriginal collective thought
– Values the group and the interconnectivity between people and nature
•
1982 and the Canadian Constitution Act
– Provided recognition of the collective rights of aboriginal peoples
•
Métis land claims
– Originally these were issued to individuals not to the Métis as a group
– Several court cases in both Alberta and Manitoba have challenged these claims and
seem to be moving in the direction of supporting the collective rights of the Métis
•
UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples
– Canada did not sign, argued that it would be unconstitutional as it would grant rights to
collective groups rather than individuals
•
Aboriginal Self Government
– While the Canadian Government sees this as a fundamental right in the charter of rights
and freedoms, there has been significant debate as to what this actually entails
– Every group has a different perspective of what this would be
Religious
Perspectives:
• Doukhobors
– Resisted concepts of
individualism and eventually
protested over material
possessions
– The Government ended up
taking their land and forced their
children to attend schools
– How should the government
have responded to these claims,
criticisms of liberalism?
• Religion and Law
– Should individuals be able to
choose what laws determine
how they are governed within
families?
• Sharia Law
• Hebrew law
Environmentalism and Collective Ways
of Thinking:
• These perspectives
challenge the way that
liberal societies explain
economics
• This challenge is a
significant response to
liberalism as it examines
and finds complaints in
capitalism
When are Challenges to Liberalism
Justified?
• Most challenges have been
based around concepts that
seem to be inherent in
liberalism
– Militarism
– Materialism
– conformity
• The most notable areas of
resistance have been:
– Civil Rights Movement USA
1960s
– Iraq 2003
– Food Not Bombs
– Red Army Faction (RAF)
Assignment:
• ‘Aboriginal Rights in Canada’
– Page 248 Questions 1-3
• ‘Aboriginal Self-Government and
Liberalism’
– Page 251 Questions 1-3
• ‘Reflecting on the Labrador Inuit
Land Claims Agreement ‘
– Page 253 Question 1
• ‘Welcoming War resisters’
– Page 257 Questions 1-3
• ‘Religion, Sharia, and Human and
Individual Rights’
– Page 259 Question 1
• Knowledge and Understanding
– Page 263 Questions 1-5
• ‘The Iraq Freedom Congress’
– Page 266 Question 1
• ‘Fighting for Civil Rights’
– Page 268 Questions 1-2
• ‘Violence and the RAF’
– Page 271 Question 1
• Knowledge and Understanding
– Page 272 Question 1-3
• ‘Religious Freedom and the Law’
– Page 273-274 Questions 1-3
• Further Exploration
– Page 275 Question 3 and 4