Ghost dancing with colonialism : decolonization and Indigenous rights at the Supreme Court of Canada

Woo, Grace Li Xiu 1947- (Author).

Summary: Some assume that Canada earned a place among postcolonial states in 1982 when it took charge of its Constitution. Yet despite the formal recognition accorded to Aboriginal and treaty rights at the time, Indigenous peoples continue to argue that they are still being colonized. Grace Woo assesses this allegation using a binary model that distinguishes colonial from postcolonial legality. She argues that two legal paradigms governed the expansion of the British Empire, one based on popular consent, the other on conquest and the power to command. During the twentieth centry, international law formally rejected the conquest model. However, despite the best intentions of lawyers and judges, the beliefs and practices of the colonial age continue to haunt Supreme Court of Canada rulings concerning Indigenous rights. The binary analysis applied in Ghost Dancing with Colonialism casts explanatory light on ongoing tensions between Canada and Indigenous peoples, suggesting new ways to bridge the cultural divide and arrive at a truly postcolonial justice system.

Record details

ISBN: 9780774818872
ISBN: 0774818875
Physical Description: print
xiii, 338 p. ; 24 cm.
Publisher: Vancouver : UBC Press, c2011.

Content descriptions

Formatted Contents Note:

Introduction: ghost dancing and S. 35 -- Paradigms and the British empire -- Anomalies -- Conceptual structures -- Colonial and postcolonial legality -- Case study: Indigenous rights and decolonization at the Supreme Court of Canada -- Methodology -- Internal architecture of the court's reasoning -- Trends and dance tunes -- Can the court become postcolonial? -- Appendix 1: Chronological list of cases studied -- Appendix 2: Judicial careers -- Appendix 3: Judicial reasoning profiles -- Appendix 4: Assessment of reasoning -- Appendix 5: Use of the Canadian judicial institution.