Constitutional Change In The Circumpolar Periphery: A Comparative Case Study

Abstract

This dissertation probes the origins of intercultural conflict and regional disparity in the circumpolar North. The dissertation asserts that the national governments of Denmark, the United States and Canada have utilized policies of internal colonialism in Alaska, Greenland and the Yukon Territory, and that those policies have shaped inter-cultural relations and contributed to regional disparities in their northern jurisdictions. Michael Hecther's and Dale Johnson's definitions of internal colonialism are utilized for the purposes of this study. The dissertation uses a comparative case study approach, reviewing how national government policies evolved and were applied in Alaska, Yukon and Greenland. It treats Alaska and the Yukon as similar cases, while Greenland is examined in a separate chapter as a dissimilar case. The dissertation provides an historical analysis and comparison of national policies towards aboriginal peoples, and shows how those policies were applied differently in Alaska and the Yukon than they were in the southern United States and Canada. These policies exacerbated conflict between the aboriginal and non-aboriginal populations due to the cultural division of labor that was created. The dissertation then examines the impact of federal policies on the economic development of Alaska and the Yukon. Thirdly, the dissertation examines the history of constitutional change, and compares the struggle for Alaska statehood with efforts to achieve provincial status for the Yukon. The dissertation concludes that policies of internal colonialism have been detrimental to the social and economic well-being northern peoples, but that responses to these policies have generated creative new approaches and agreements.