<p>This dissertation<i> </i>examines the politics of justice in the
privatization of fishing rights for coastal Indigenous communities. The Western
Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) Program distributed quasi private
fishing rights to six non-profit corporations (CDQ groups) that represent 65
Indigenous villages to develop fishing-based economies and alleviate village
poverty. These villages were not actively engaged in the industrialized
offshore fishing industry to which these rights were attached when the program
was implemented. The CDQ Program’s design contrasts other market-based programs
which often enclose resource access, displace small-scale harvesters, and
create steep barriers of entry for new users. These observations raise
important questions about how different understandings of justice emerged and
became embedded in different institutional rules, and the types of
strategies the CDQ groups use to benefit their residents. Using data collected
through archival and interview methods, as well as process tracing and a
qualitative content analysis, this dissertation shows the ways in which the CDQ Program’s design reflects
a much broader struggle over how different ideas and identities are rendered
legitimate in the Alaska context<i>.</i> Using a justice framework to analyze the
data, results indicate that CDQ decision-makers largely described the
program in terms of distributional justice. These actors emphasized
redistributing wealth to select villages whose underdevelopment and poverty
justified the allocation. Conversely, themes of recognitional justice were the
foundation of the oral and written testimonies of Indigenous communities and
local fishing organizations, describing the CDQ Program as a pathway for
securing independent fishing opportunities to improve villages’ wellbeing. Overall,
the CDQ Program’s institutional rules largely reflect decision-makers’
understandings of justice as they target capitalization goals. However, the CDQ
Program also has a polycentric power configuration which allows the CDQ groups to independently determine their
development strategies for their villages. While all CDQ groups pursue
profit-maximizing strategies such as leasing arrangements, some groups also work
towards achieving local demands for small-scale fishing opportunities for
residents. This design feature is the mechanism that allows some groups to
diverge from processes of capitalization in important and original ways to
benefit their villages.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/11290580 |
| Date | 02 December 2019 |
| Creators | Kate M Haapala (8054246) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/Justice_Community_and_Enclosing_the_Commons_The_Western_Alaska_Community_Development_Quota_Program/11290580 |
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