Contemporary Inuit political identity and transnational processes

Abstract

Understanding how local political identities are shaped by transnational networks can produce insight into the relationships among global processes, local identities, and the state. This ethnographic exploration of circumpolar transnational processes provides an understanding of the social and cultural factors influencing political identity among the Inuit of the United States. I ask how the local Alaska branch of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC-AK) connects to a broader transnational Indigenous network, and how those networks influence Inuit political identity locally and globally. The following thesis suggests that, despite an increase in cultural influences across national borders due to globalization, political identities remain tied to local and national influences. Moreover, the transnational movements of local political identities may be impeded by national borders and State regulations, revealing the continued importance of the nation-state, rather than its demise in an increasingly globalized world.