Being Authentically American Indian: Symbolic Identity Construction and Social Structure among Urban New Indians

This study investigates the individual and group level reconstruction of a racial‐ethnic identity. Specifically, we investigate the experience of “new Indians,” or people who did not previously identify as American Indian, but are now reclaiming this racial‐ethnic heritage. Because many new Indians lack both official (tribal and/or federal) recognition of their Indian status and the phenotypic traits associated with Indians in popular culture, their authenticity as American Indians is often questioned in interactions with others. We document how new Indians work to reconstruct the symbolic meaning of authentic Indianness by emphasizing specific values and actions rather than biological lineage. Moreover, we demonstrate how new Indians achieve interactional validation of their redefined Indian identities in the context of a proximate social structure.     

Federal control of Indian Lands v. State control of Gaming — Cabazon Bingo and the Indian Gaming regulatory act

In September, 1988, the 100th Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, concluding five years of debate over the Indian Gaming issue — brought to a head by a Supreme Court decision in February, 1987, that barred states from regulating Indian Gaming. That case (State of California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians) forced the legislature to take a serious look at issues of gaming on Indian lands. The result was the creation of a three-tiered system whereby tribes will control ceremonial games, the federal government will control bingo, and the states and tribes will negotiate agreements to cover casino games, parimutuel racing, and jai alai, if such games are legal in that particular state. In light of the case of the Cabazon Indians and the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, this paper will address the following competing issues: tribal sovereignty, state interests, federal interests, and states like Nevada, which have a regulated gaming industry.     

Rural Policy and Direct Local Participation: Democracy,Inclusiveness, Collective Agency,and Locality‐Based Policy*

Abstract During the closing decades of the twentieth century, the federal government has experienced a period of delegitimation and fiscal crisis that has led to decentralization of some federal programs and a fledgling revival of community‐ and place‐based policies. These and other locality‐based policies are not new tools. The renewed interest in this type of policy raises questions about their effectiveness. Historic and recent records of locality‐based policies suggest that they are not panaceas for achieving programmatic goals. Three cases provide an empirical, comparative basis for assessing the liabilities of locality‐based policies: the Third New Deal efforts to institute county land‐use planning; Mexico's experiences with community forestry; and emerging grassroots ecosystem management movements in the western United States. Among other factors, the degree of local democracy and inclusiveness and the quality of local social, economic, and physical infrastructures are identified as important in mediating effective policy implementation.     

Indian Country Poverty: Place‐Based Poverty on American Indian Territories, 2006–10

This article examines place‐based poverty in Indian Country, emphasizing that reservation characteristics are influenced by the system of federal Indian policy that affects American Indian self‐determination and antipoverty strategies within reservation boundaries. Using data from the American Community Survey five‐year file, 2006–10, I model poverty rates using multivariate, nested regression along key dimensions associated with American Indian antipoverty strategies and place‐based poverty. The results indicate that rates of female‐headed households and opportunity structures, such as lack of work, contribute to higher rates of reservation poverty while gaming acts as a slight buffer against poverty. Surprisingly, natural‐resource‐related occupations, thought to be associated with expropriation of tribal resources, was not associated with higher poverty, while self‐governance compacts, acting as a proxy for tribal autonomy, had no significant impact on poverty rates. As tribal governments seek to address poverty through strategies enabled by self‐determination policies, there is a critical need for more comprehensive and reliable data to understand how and whether tribal governments can effectively adapt federal policies to specific reservation conditions.     

Policies for Recruiting Talented Professionals from the Diaspora: India and China Compared

Despite the continuous asymmetrical power relations between the Global North and South, the “global race for talent” is no longer a privilege enjoyed only by developed countries. Comparative analysis of policy content and effectiveness has attracted increasing interest. The examination of policy initiatives resulting in return migration of highly‐skilled migrants from the Global North to the Global South, however, remains inadequate. In this article, we provide a comparative analysis of policies targeting high‐level Chinese and Indian professionals including full‐time returnees. Two key differences in policy instruments and outcomes in the two countries are identified and they have implications for migration policies in other countries in the Global South and North.     

Rescaling the Sanctuary City: Police and Non‐Status Migrants in Ontario,Canada

Canadian cities pledge to provide access to municipal services to non‐status migrants and withhold information identifying non‐status migrants from federal immigration authorities. Despite these promises, local police continue to cooperate with the Canada Border Services Agency, which raises questions about the capacity of cities to honour their promises. An empirical study involved interviews with high‐ranking police officers in eight local jurisdictions in Ontario about police perceptions regarding their role in the enforcement of federal immigration law and their obligations to honour sanctuary‐city policies. The results show that many police officers believe they possess legal authority to report non‐status migrants to federal authorities. We suggest that this belief rests on misconceptions about the relationship between criminal law and immigration law, claims of jurisdictional immunity from municipal government, and distortions of the principles of policing in Canada. Rescaling of sanctuary policies to the provincial level may offer solutions.     

Working Therapeutically with Indian Families within a New Zealand Context

This article aims to raise awareness amongst non‐Indian therapists working with Indian people by highlighting some of the important aspects of Indian culture within the New Zealand context. Although there is a great deal of diversity amongst Indians, there are some fundamental issues that would have relevance for most Indians. Specific issues relating to immigrant families are discussed, such as the sacrifices made by families in the hope of providing a better future for their children and the difficulties encountered by new migrants. The cultural clash for young people caught between parental expectations and peer pressure can often lead to significant family conflict. Some of the common pitfalls for non‐Indian therapists working with Indian people are outlined and suggestions made in relation to the process of therapy.     

Civility and Humiliation under the French Flag: The Tensions of Colonial Liberalism in Pondicherry, 1871–86

This article explores the extension of political “liberty” and franchise – as well as the eventual extension of citizenship rights – to Indians during the decades of France's Third Republic (1870s–80s) in French colonial India. Not only does this example stand in stark contrast to the civil position of Indians in British India at the time, but it was also something of a unique situation in the French colonial world. How did the French attempt to apply a colonial policy of liberalism to Indian communities in Pondicherry, India, whose social world was constructed upon caste‐based rituals and rules? I argue that liberal policies that could violate caste rules concerning purity and lead to the loss of communal rights cannot be assessed without understanding how they were received and instrumentalized by the Indian population. Overall, the difficulty of transplanting liberalism in Pondicherry was not due just to the opposition of colonial society, but also due to the resistance of local Indians. Rejections of a more emancipatory agenda meant that the republican “civility” of liberty, equality and fraternity was compromised, and this illustrates one of the fundamental tensions in imperial/liberal discourse at the time.     

Arctic political imaginaries: crafting technologies and inhabiting infrastructures

This paper seeks to address the relationship between acceptance of land use policies and differing understandings of place. Drawing on literature about technologies of the imagination and literature about infrastructure, it suggests that a synthesis of certain aspects of these two theoretical orientations produces a model that can be used to conceptually as well as practically explain the acceptance or rejection of policies. Technologies of the imagination here refer to phenomenon whose outcomes are not fully conditioned, and infrastructure acts as the underlying framework on which these technologies operate. This paper explores this relationship via a comparative case study: former Canadian federal government policy speeches; historical and contemporary popular portrayals of the ‘North’; and contemporary lived Inuit experiences at a Canadian mine site. The imaginings of space are very different between the two publics that are exposed to them: the Canadian southern audience and the Inuit northern audience. This paper proposes that this disparity and policy complex is best understood as a system that works on technologies and infrastructures as creating and being constituted by imagination. This framework explains how the gap between southern policies and northern priorities persists, and why it will continue to persist in the current political system.     

Social networks of old people in India: research and policy

This article presents a comparative analysis of the available research on the social networks of older persons in India. Most of this research has been done in North Indian cities. The research foci of the available studies include network size, core networks and beyond, life course changes in networks, impacts of residency in old-age homes, gender differences, and joint and nuclear family residence. This research is discussed in terms of its policy implications. Because the research demonstrates that social networks are important for the welfare of older Indians, one can conclude that social policy that encourages the maintenance of robust networks throughout the life course may be worth pursuing. One aspect of policy is discussed. The analysis of the relationship between social network and gender suggests that current policies that can be seen as supporting gender inequality in terms of property may have a negative impact on the networks of older women.     

Naturally Occurring Retirement Community-Supportive Service Program: an example of devolution

Devolution is defined as the transfer of power or authority from a central government to a local government. This article addresses federal policies on housing for the elderly and the devolution of funding for federal senior housing and describes two aspects of devolution of federal housing policy for the elderly. One, it points out the decreasing interest in senior housing by federal authorities as indicated by the decreased amount of funds allocated for this purpose. Two, it emphasizes the need for supportive, assistive services for residents of senior housing and how federal funds have not addressed this need adequately or sufficiently. As a consequence, there have emerged Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs) in New York State, a housing arrangement that provides supportive and health services to all eligible residents. The article concludes with a discussion of policy implications and the need for additional research before replicating this model.     

Poverty Estimates: Political Implications and Other Issues

This paper contends that the official poverty estimates of the federal government reflect a conservative bias. The argument is supported mainly by a review of the evidence on the shortcomings of the government's procedures in measuring and estimating poverty. Five limitations of the procedures are highlighted and discussed, and the general conclusion is that the government's approach leads to a substantial under‐estimation of poverty. Given the historical and contemporary government policies toward the poor, there is little reason to be optimistic about any significant change in the government's procedures, unless they are changes that have the effect of further increasing the under‐estimation.     

Policy Streams and Immigration to Russia: Competing and Complementary Interests at the Federal and Local Levels

This article uses Kingdon's Multiple Streams Framework to explain forms of national‐ and region‐level governance used in the Russian Federation to manage unprecedented levels of international immigration. First, we identify the ways that the Russian federal government has legislated and governed international migration from 1991 through 2010. We then compare the federal level to the case of the Krasnodar region, an ethnically diverse region in the North Caucasus. We find that that migration policy adoption in Russia at the federal level is relatively immune to economic trends or labour needs but more sensitive to foreign and domestic political objectives. At the regional level, local socio‐political and economic concerns predominate and political objectives are secondary. Finally, we argue that migration policy changes or adopted policy at the regional level may be explained by an interaction effect between changes in political leadership, federal level policy adoption, and regional level context.     

Naturally Occurring Retirement Community-Supportive Service Program

Summary

Devolution is defined as the transfer of power or authority from a central government to a local government. This article addresses federal policies on housing for the elderly and the devolution of funding for federal senior housing and describes two aspects of devolution of federal housing policy for the elderly. One, it points out the decreasing interest in senior housing by federal authorities as indicated by the decreased amount of funds allocated for this purpose. Two, it emphasizes the need for supportive, assistive services for residents of senior housing and how federal funds have not addressed this need adequately or sufficiently. As a consequence, there have emerged Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs) in New York State, a housing arrangement that provides supportive and health services to all eligible residents. The article concludes with a discussion of policy implications and the need for additional research before replicating this model.     

Social Networks of Old People in India

Summary

This article presents a comparative analysis of the available research on the social networks of older persons in India. Most of this research has been done in North Indian cities. The research foci of the available studies include network size, core networks and beyond, life course changes in networks, impacts of residency in old-age homes, gender differences, and joint and nuclear family residence. This research is discussed in terms of its policy implications. Because the research demonstrates that social networks are important for the welfare of older Indians, one can conclude that social policy that encourages the maintenance of robust networks throughout the life course may be worth pursuing. One aspect of policy is discussed. The analysis of the relationship between social network and gender suggests that current policies that can be seen as supporting gender inequality in terms of property may have a negative impact on the networks of older women.     

IM Special Section Introduction: Rethinking International Migration in China and India

China and India have the world’s two largest populations and have long been major sources of migrants to other countries. In recent years, movements of Chinese and Indians for study and work overseas have been affected by developments in policies at their chosen destinations as well as at home. The flows of Chinese and Indian students and skilled migrants in the second decade of the 21st century are occurring within quite different political and economic contexts from those that prevailed even as recently as a decade ago. In the first part of this brief editorial introduction, we introduce some features of contemporary Chinese and Indian migration. The four substantive papers in the special section are then introduced, the first two with reference to the changing Asian migration patterns, and the remaining two addressing the changing dynamics of migration.     

Challenging National Borders from Within: The Political‐Class Formation of Indigenous Peasants in Latin America*

We explore the recent Indian‐peasant mobilization in Latin America. We argue that this mobilization seeks recognition of cultural differences and thus challenges hegemonic definitions of nationhood and neoliberal globalism. Indian struggles include self‐government and collective use of land for the reproduction of indigenous identity, and directly undermine the neoliberal drive towards privatization and individualization. We question both the Marxist views and the new‐social‐movement theories on identity politics. Instead, a theoretical synthesis is proposed where both class and identity serve as constituent parts of political‐class formation.     

Collecting data on the abuse and neglect of American Indian children

A survey of 10% of federally recognized American Indian tribes and the states in which they are located indicates national data systems receive reports of approximately 61% of data on the abuse or neglect of American Indian children, 42% by states and 19% by counties. The author recommends that American Indians develop culturally sound definitions of abuse and neglect and that the government provide the resources and assistance necessary to develop data tracking and reporting systems on the abuse and neglect of American Indian children.     

Primitive Accumulation,New Enclosures,and Global Land Grabs: A Theoretical Intervention

Recent critical analyses of global land grabs have variously invoked global capitalism and neocolonialism to account for this trend. One line of inquiry approaches land grabs as instances of “primitive accumulation of capital” whereby lands in the Global South are “enclosed” and brought within the ambit of global capitalism. Another perspective invokes the history of Anglo‐American colonialism for critiquing the developmentalist discourse that depicts Africa as the “last frontier” to be tamed by the techno‐industrial civilization of the North. This essay integrates these two perspectives by elaborating capitalism as an irreducibly colonial formation with global inceptions. I begin with a discussion of “primitive accumulation” and, counter to many, question the suitability of “enclosure” for interpreting land grabs. The second section delves into the theoretical origins of primitive accumulation, proposing to situate it in a global and colonial genealogy of capitalism. A final section charts the theoretical and historical contours of this global genealogy and arrives at a more capacious reconceptualization of primitive accumulation. I conclude by reflecting on the implications of contemporary land grabs for in situ displacement, the fungibility of land, and new enclosures in the contemporary reconfiguration of global value chains.     

Shifts in Intergenerational Mobility of Indian Immigrant Entrepreneurs

The objective of this article is to examine the shift in the intergenerational mobility of Indian immigrant entrepreneurs in Australia. Based on a qualitative methodology, this article reports on the differences in the entrepreneurial attitudes of push and pull and the aptitudes of social and human capital between pre 2000 and post 2000 immigrant entrepreneurs. The findings suggest that the post 2000 Indian migrant entrepreneurs in Australia are mostly pull motivated, have higher qualifications than the pre 2000 arrivals, speak better English, have professional educational qualifications relevant to their business, and operate predominantly in the service sector. They take fewer years to get into business and are less dependent on immigrant social capital resources than pre 2000 arrivals. The study proposes that, compared with social capital resources, human capital resource have a greater impact on entrepreneurial propensity in the case of second generation Indian migrant entrepreneurs in Australia.

Policy Implications

• This research has implication for Australian immigration policy, labour laws and settlement services of migrants. It recommends successful implementation of policies and durable solutions for Indian immigrants in the labour market in Australia.
• The Australian Government will be assisted in examining and identifying future options for the intake of temporary and permanent migrants that improve the income, wealth and living standards of Australian citizens, improve the budgets and balance sheets of Australian governments, minimize administration and compliance costs associated with immigration, and provide pathways both for Australian citizens to be altruistic towards foreigners, and for Australia's international responsibilities and obligations to foreign residents to be met. Improvements in the labour laws would promote the effective integration of Indian immigrants into society.
• Further, Indians in the USA have contributed immensely to the entrepreneurial spirit due to the government support for migrant SMEs and the small business venture funds. The Australian government can replicate this policy, reduce restriction on employment opportunities and enhance entrepreneurship for all migrants.