Thesis (Ph. D.)--McGill University, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

This case study examined casino gaming by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians (PCI) in Alabama within the context of tribal sovereignty. It critiqued tribal developments over a five-year period beginning in 2009 with the opening of their first multi-million dollar casino and hotel. No previous studies on gaming or tribal sovereignty for this tribe existed. There were only a few studies on this dual topic for other Indian tribes but none of which utilized a political science theoretical approach. The study found that tribal sovereignty existed since American Indian tribes existed. Sovereignty was strong during the treaty-making period. Thereafter, tribal authority and self-determination of Indian tribes became limited as it was redefined by federal policies, Congressional actions and Supreme Court decisions. When treaty-making ended, the political history for Indian tribes became a narrative of termination, relocation and assimilation. The Poarch Band of Cree Indians were a small group that remained poor and obscure after the Indian removal period. Casino gaming has given them an economic and political resurgence. The early legal interpretation of tribes' political status was that of "domestic dependent nations" which continues to influence federal Indian policy today and thus the parameters of tribal sovereignty as well. While the level of federal dependency for some gaming tribes has been reduced, tribes are not fully self-sufficient. Similar to other industries, casino gaming is impacted by supply, demand and increased competition and thus long-term permanent gains cannot be predicted. For the Poarch Band Creeks, gaming increased their political awareness and led to greater political involvement in lobbying. It also created new community and business partnerships. Gaming also prospered the Poarch Band Creeks not only in terms of improving their quality of life but they now have the financial resources to sustain legal battles to protect their sovereignty from intrusion by the state of Alabama. Alabama was successful in closing all non-Indian casinos but not when it attempted to close Indian casinos. This study highlights the political strategies and sovereignty protections utilized by the Poarch Creek Indians in their response to contemporary political challenges by the state of Alabama.

This dissertation is about the political rhetorical process of reconciliation in the wake of crimes against humanity. In contrast to war crimes trials, the political process of reconciliation aims to bring together parties in conflict under the auspices of what are most often called "truth and reconciliations commissions" (TRC). For the Western juridico-political tradition, the ends of transitional justice are directed toward the enactment of retributive violence as a way to reestablish the political field through punishment and the institution of the rule of law. Rather than reestablishing a relationship, law reflects the logic of the sovereign decision and the application of supposedly universal moral standards. The TRC forum works, in contrast, toward a coming-into-relation of perpetrators and the aggrieved, and does so by focusing on the performance of speech and action about past atrocities as a way to turn toward future peace. Following the work of Hannah Arendt, I propose that rhetoric is central to the process of political relationship building. I conceive of rhetoric in its persuasive mood as a process of wooing an other where free deeds transform into free words in the exchange of opinion. I explore the role of forgiveness in the reconciliation process and the need for deliberation in discerning the border between the forgivable and unforgivable as part of the process of coming-into-relation. Finally, I consider how reconciliation and the process of political transition is suited to the notion of "democracy to come" and its implications for always already thinking a future that will never come, but that we, as citizens of democratic communities, must take as our goal.

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Elementos pré-textuais: 14 f. Elementos textuais: 185 f. Ficha catalográfica: 1 f. / Submitted by Ana Valéria de Jesus Moura (anavaleria_131@hotmail.com) on 2013-08-01T13:00:25Z No. of bitstreams: 3 Elementos.pdf: 56362 bytes, checksum: a0a6ae91ef428cd8669cc4b946010ded (MD5) Ficha catalografica Victor Insali.pdf: 11631 bytes, checksum: 8fd12f1210ed89013eb84be6d51faca8 (MD5) Disser Victor Insali.pdf: 1016970 bytes, checksum: 76e3ddafc6accbdb4c617071af8ad137 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Valéria de Jesus Moura(anavaleria_131@hotmail.com) on 2013-08-01T13:01:21Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 3 Elementos.pdf: 56362 bytes, checksum: a0a6ae91ef428cd8669cc4b946010ded (MD5) Ficha catalografica Victor Insali.pdf: 11631 bytes, checksum: 8fd12f1210ed89013eb84be6d51faca8 (MD5) Disser Victor Insali.pdf: 1016970 bytes, checksum: 76e3ddafc6accbdb4c617071af8ad137 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-08-01T13:01:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 Elementos.pdf: 56362 bytes, checksum: a0a6ae91ef428cd8669cc4b946010ded (MD5) Ficha catalografica Victor Insali.pdf: 11631 bytes, checksum: 8fd12f1210ed89013eb84be6d51faca8 (MD5) Disser Victor Insali.pdf: 1016970 bytes, checksum: 76e3ddafc6accbdb4c617071af8ad137 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / O presente trabalho tem como finalidade demonstrar a proteção dos direitos e liberdades fundamentais previstos na Carta Africana dos Direitos do Homem e dos Povos, levando-se em conta a trajetória da evolução da proteção dos direitos na África, desde o periódo pré-colonial até a atualidade e, consequentemente, até a criação da Carta Africana,considerada um instrumento de extrema importância em amtéria da promoção e proteção dos direitos nesse continente. A ideia da proteção dos direitos humanos do homem africano no periódo pré-colonial está ligada aos princípios da moralidade e da religiosidade, tendo como base os valores culturais e tradicionais presentes nessa sociedade. Esses valores foram substituídos durante o periódo colonial por outros, estranhos à cultura tradicional. Após a independência e com o surgimento da Organização da Unidade Africana (OUA), a preocupação passou a ser a defesa da soberania e o princípio de intangibilidade das fronteiras, deixando-se para o plano secundário os problemas dos direitos humanos. A Carta Africana é um peculiar tratado internacional de direitos humanos, embora com algumas semelhanças com outros tratados da mesma matéria. Retrata uma realidade ainda não efetivada na sua totalidade quanto à proteção dos direitos humanos. Como os demais, representa o ideal de convivência pacifica e igualitária entre povos e nações, mas necessita de pontuais modificações a fim de ser concretizado. Com efeito, no plano fatico, constata-se que há muito a ser feito no âmbito dos direitos humanos, especificamente os previstos na Carta Africana, para que a mesma revista-se de legitimidade e confiabilidade para o povo africano, dada a discrepância entre o plano normativo e o plano material de defesa dos direitos humanos. / Salvador

This paper examines a series of emerging utopian discourses that call for the creation of autonomous libertarian enclaves on land ceded by or claimed against existing states. These discourses have emerged in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and can be seen as a response to the crisis on the part of freemarket advocates who critique previous waves of neoliberal reform for failing to radically transform the existing structures of the state. Enclave libertarianism seeks to overcome neoliberal capitalism's contradictory relationship to the liberal democratic state by rethinking the state as a "private government service provider" and rethinking citizens as mobile consumers of government services. Citizens are thus called to "vote with their feet" by opting-in to the jurisdiction that best fits their needs and beliefs. The paper argues that these utopian imaginaries are key to understanding specific new manifestations of post-crisis neoliberalism, and calls for more research into the diversity of discourses and imaginaries that circulate through networks of neoliberal actors beyond specific policy initiatives.

The transnational network La Vía Campesina (LVC) coined the term ‘food sovereignty’, which has been appropriated by many actors seeking alternatives to the neoliberal food regime. Traspatio Oaxaqueño (TO) is a small initiative seeking to revitalize backyard agriculture and the role of women in local food systems. While TO leaders do not explicitly claim to be pursuing food sovereignty, the initiative promotes some of its key principles: (1) the empowerment of women from economically vulnerable families, by increasing their access to productive resources; (2) the preservation of the right to healthy and culturally appropriate food; and (3) the use of ecologically, socially and economically sustainable methods. Despite the fact that the initiative does not deeply challenge the neoliberal food regime, it contributes to the collective organizing and politicization of marginalized actors, allowing them to gain greater autonomy and to eventually reclaim control over food systems.

The concept of sovereignty has been a contestable idea throughout history, and its meaning has oftentimes transformed to reflect prevailing systemic conditions and political priorities of major actors in each historical period. In this study, I argue that the social construction of state sovereignty is at the beginning stages of another major redefinition. In an era of globalization and regional integration, discourse on sovereignty has become increasingly prolific as the rhetoric of sovereignty moves away from Westphalian principles that were based exclusively on the agency of independent states. Furthermore, multinational campaigns to promote international human rights engender a discourse that suggests the idea of sovereignty is changing. Does this emerging discourse confirm the growing legitimacy of humanitarian intervention, or is it merely a discursive trend in international relations that does not indicate significant change in state perception and behavior? The purpose of this work is to address this question. / Master of Arts

The thesis examines the relationship between sovereignty and eschatology in Carl Schmitt’s political theology. Schmitt is seen as an important political theorist of sovereignty but the contemporary understanding of his sovereignty lacks an eschatological dimension. As a political theologian, Schmitt notices that sovereignty and eschatology are in tension: if the apocalypse is near, the earthly sovereign order has no legitimacy to exist. According to him, this tension was rooted in Christianity but radicalized by 20th century Marxism which destructs the sovereign order by extremizing the class contradiction to negate the class enemy and creating a universal unity of humanity at the end of human history. This thesis interprets Schmitt’s concept of sovereignty as a response to the Marxist apocalypticism and argues that Schmitt’s political theology is a project to revive the sovereign as a Katechontic power which perpetuates but simultaneously restrains enmity to delay the apocalypse and continually legitimate sovereignty as the earthly order. / Graduate / 2023-04-28

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