Legal Issues In Indigenous Economic Development

Indigenous peoples in Canada are striving for greater economic prosperity and political self-determination. Investigating specific legal, economic, and political practices, and including research from interviews with Indigenous political and business leaders, this collection seeks to provide insights grounded in lived experience. Covering such critical topics as economic justice and self-determination, and the barriers faced in pursuing each, Wise Practices sets out to understand the issues not in terms of sweeping empirical findings but through particular experiences of individuals and communities. The choice to focus on specific practices of law and governance is a conscious rejection of idealized theorizing about law and governance and represents an important step beyond the existing scholarship. This volume offers readers a broad scope of perspectives, incorporating contemporary thought on Indigenous law and legal orders, the impact of state law on Indigenous peoples, theories and practices of economic development, and grounded practices of governances. While the authors address a range of topics, each does so in a way that sheds light on how Indigenous practices of law and governance support the social and economic development of Indigenous peoples.

"Today is a time of economic rebirth for Aboriginal people in Canada. The federal government has committed billions of dollars to Aboriginal business initiatives, and courts are actively settling a range of claims. Innovative business models, new forms of property, and daring ventures and partnerships flourish across Canada, with many more planned.

"Indigenous peoples in Canada are striving for greater economic prosperity and political self-determination. Investigating specific legal, economic, and political practices, and including research from interviews with Indigenous political and business leaders, this collection seeks to provide insights grounded in lived experience. Covering such critical topics as economic justice and self-determination, and the barriers faced in pursuing each, Wise Practices sets out to understand the issues not in terms of sweeping empirical findings but rather the particular experiences of individuals and communities. The choice to focus on specific practices of law and governance is a conscious rejection of idealized theorizing about law and governance and represents an important step in the existing scholarship. The volume offers readers a broad scope of perspectives, incorporating contemporary thought on Indigenous law and legal orders, the impact of state law on Indigenous peoples, theories and practices of economic development, and grounded practices of governances. While the authors address a range of topics, each does so in a way that sheds light on how Indigenous practices of law and governance support the social and economic development of Indigenous peoples."--

In this book, we explore the economic wellbeing of Indigenous peoples globally through case studies that provide practical examples of how Indigenous wellbeing is premised on sustainable self- determination that is in turn dependent on a community’s evolving model for economic development, its cultural traditions, its relationship to its traditional territories and its particular spiritual practices. Adding to the richness, geographically these chapters cover North, Central and South America, Northern Europe, the Circumpolar Arctic, Southern Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania and a resulting diverse set of Indigenous peoples. The book addresses key issues related to economic, environmental, social and cultural value creation activities and provides numerous examples and case studies of Indigenous communities globally which have successfully used entrepreneurship in the pursuit of sustainable development and wellbeing. Readers will gain practical understandings of the nature of sustainable economic development from a cross- section of case studies of Indigenous perspectives globally. The chapters map out the international development of Indigenous rights and the influence that this has had on Indigenous communities globally in asserting their sovereignty and acting on their rights to develop sustainable governance and economic development practices. Readers will develop insights into the intersection of Indigenous governance with sustainable practice and community wellbeing through practical case studies that explain the need for Indigenous- led economic development and governance strategies, which are responsive to local, regional, national and international realities in developing sustainable Indigenous economies focused on economic, environmental, social and cultural value creation. This book will be useful for Indigenous and non- Indigenous business students studying undergraduate business or MBA programs who seek to understand the global context and the varied experiences of Indigenous peoples in developing sustainable economic development strategies that promote community wellbeing.