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This thesis addresses indigenous groups agency in trade governance to enhance their ability to affect international decision-making that benefits their capability to sustainable development. It conducts a case study of Articulation of Indigenous People Brazil (APIB) in the EU-Mercosur Agreement and utilizes Eimers (2020) theory of subaltern social movement theory to establish: what strategies the APIB have used in the decision-making processes of the “Mercosur Agreement?  This theory allows consideration of indigenous agency and the effect of post-colonial structures on their capability to keep control over their realties. To collect data on this topic the author uses qualitative semi-structured interviews and qualitative thematic text analysis. The thesis finds that framing strategies of claims enabled alliance-building in Brazil and Transnational Advocacy Coalitions, which used international norms to enhance indigenous interests. However, has post-colonial structures hindered APIB´s ability to enhance interest in Brazil and silenced indigenous interests in governmental representation in the making of the EU-Mercosur.

Much of the scholarly literature on Indigenous media relations frames Indigenous peoples as passive players in the mainstream media, and focuses on negative elements such as stereotypes. This thesis challenges this view, finding that Indigenous peoples in Canada actively and strategically engage with mainstream and social media as they forward their social and political agendas. This thesis provides an analysis of the counter-colonial narrative in Canada by offering a new perspective on Indigenous media relations, focusing as a case on the Idle No More movement. Emphasizing three dimensions of communication--the mainstream print media, social media, and individuals involved in Indigenous media relations--I examine the ways in which Indigenous agency and empowerment have the potential to change discourses in the media. As sources of insight I draw on a discourse analysis of mainstream news media, a qualitative analysis of social media and on interviews with those who have significant experience in Indigenous media relations. Interviews with prominent media personalities and individuals involved in media relations (including CBC’s Duncan McCue and Janet Rogers; Four Host Nations CEO Tewanee Joseph, and others) illustrate the novel and impactful ways indigenous peoples in Canada are actively and strategically shaping the mainstream media. These representations create a more complex picture of Indigenous peoples as they counter the stereotyped or victimized media narratives within which Indigenous peoples have historically been placed. / Graduate / 0327 / 0708 / 0391 / tiahiltz@uvic.ca