AERIP Blog Posts

AERIP Blog Post 2 (October 29, 2021)

Unsettling Economics: Big Changes Since the Inaugural Conference 

Inspired by the calls of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) an internationally-renowned group of economists and scholars in related disciplines, representatives of Indigenous organizations, civil servants, and students gathered together at the First Peoples House at the University of Victoria from June 25th to 27th, 2018 for the first “Unsettling Economics” workshop.

Together, the group had two core goals: to help advance the contributions of economics to projects of reconciliation and to unsettle economics with the goal of advancing efforts to make the discipline inclusive of Indigenous peoples and their views.  In addition, the group discussed Indigenous visions of the goals of economic activity, the ethics of working with communities, innovative ways economists have started to teach Indigenous economics in the classroom.

The orienting concept of “unsettling” is influenced by Paulette Regan’s work Unsettling the Settler Within, where she applies it to historical and pedagogical work in the context of the aftermath of the Indian Residential School system. Her intention was to engage with the history of Canada’s relationships with Indigenous peoples to uncover and transform the legacy of “colonization, violence, racism, and injustice” that lays at their core and that continue to shape non-Indigenous perspectives today.

The organizers began with the premise that economists have a role to play in addressing the ongoing negative impact of colonization for Indigenous people. Collectively, they recognized that doing such work in an ethical and respectful way would require economists to undertake the sometimes uncomfortable work of engaging with individual and disciplinary assumptions about both the historical and contemporary conditions of Indigenous people, communities, and nations and the role of the discipline in either supporting or challenging the status quo — of unsettling themselves and the discipline.

Day One: Setting the Stage

The workshop began with Indigenous perspectives on economics, lessons in community led research, the research needs of communities, and how to build an Indigenous economics. On the first day, Carol Anne Hilton, presented a summary of her philosophy from her then forthcoming book Indigenomics.  Dara Kelly, then a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Victoria and now an assistant professor at Simon Fraser University presented work from her dissertation “Feed the People and You Will Never Go Hungry: Illuminating Coast Salish Economy of Affection.” These scholars set the tone for the conference.

In the second session, Miriam Jorgensen, Brent Mainprize, Boyd Hunter, Matt Murphy, and Richard Todd discussed what they have learned from their extensive experience in Indigenous community development, and shared insights about how to best work with and for Indigenous nations. The day closed with presentations by Erin O’Sullivan from what was then Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada now Indigenous Services Canada and Jacqueline Quinless from the University of Victoria sharing their views on the importance of Indigenous data and how economists can perform ethical and decolonized work.

Jorgensen and Quinless specifically emphasized the importance of community centered work, grounded in two-eyed seeing, and encouraged economists to reflect on their own positionality when conducting research and to ask themselves: Is this the right unit of analysis? What are the sources of my questions? What biases might I hold? What biases are inherent in the data I am using? Who should I be talking to? What are the implications of my work and how does it contribute to economic resurgence and reconciliation? While most of these are questions that economists should always ask of their work, the importance of asking them can be particularly pronounced when considering Indigenous economic outcomes.

Day Two: Sharing the Empirical Work

On the second day, emerging and established scholars in applied microeconometrics shared their empirical work.  The first session focused on the impact of colonial institutions and their consequences for Indigenous nations economic development: Krishna and Ravi Pendakur presented their findings on how modern treaties and agreements, and opt-in legislation has impacted income inequality amongst First Nations, and Bryan Leonard shared evidence on the impact of incomplete property rights on American Indian reservations on economic development.  

 The next session focused on Indigenous education with Jeffery Burnette highlighting how changes in the process for identification of Indigenous students in post-secondary education is leading to the statistical termination of American Indian and Alaska Native representation in post secondary enrollment. Maggie Jones provided evidence that federal funding reductions in First Nations post-secondary support led to declines not only in post-secondary completion rates but also in the high school attainment rates of Indigenous students.

 Following this session, Patrick Button and Jasmin Thomas presented evidence on the labor market experiences of Indigenous peoples in North America. Button presented evidence from the first resume correspondence study on Native American employment discrimination and Thomas provided evidence on how First Nations and Inuit childcare initiatives have affected labour force participation of Indigenous peoples in the north. The day concluded with Alyssa Savage presenting her research on how reduced access to land and resources and the simultaneous loss of traditional ecological knowledge may have impacts on Indigenous community stability.

 All researchers offered empirical evidence critical to thinking about how programs and decision-making can be shaped to best serve Indigenous communities. Yet the methodological contrast from the discussions in the first day were clear to all present. The day presented an opportunity for thinking about how work in economics must grow and where there are opportunities for potentially closing the divide between existing applied microeconometric work and perspectives from communities on the ground.

 Day Three: Teaching an Indigenous Economics

On the last day, Anya Hageman, Jeffery Burnette , and Joseph Guse shared how they have developed some of the first economics courses that detail Indigenous economic history and Indigenous economies into the present. The panelists discussed approaches and curricula to prepare young economists to better contribute to a society that actively engages in reconciliation.  Guse discussed a field-based curriculum where students would visit important historical and modern sites when learning about Indigenous economic development, history, and context. Burnette highlighted how much material already exists within economics to inform students about the challenges and opportunities facing Indigenous nations. Hageman presented how she built a course for undergraduates in economics to understand the institutional context for Indigenous nations in Canada and presented the foundations of her then in progress, open source textbook.

Key Takeaways from the Conference

After three days of intensive work, there were at least three key takeaways. First and foremost, it was made clear that economists do have a space to contribute and that quality, causal empirical research can occur in an environment that respects Indigenous data sovereignty and is grounded in questions and concerns from Indigenous communities. Second, the empirical research presented made it clear just how wide the gulf is between the evidence available to white communities and the evidence available to Indigenous communities and nations and the many opportunities there are for mutually constructive research and data creation to take place.

Perhaps the single largest takeaway from the gathering was the excitement and commitment of a growing group of economists and related disciplines to contribute to the emerging field of Indigenous economics. Each day, the room was filled with current and future scholars looking learn and committed to doing so.

 Since “Unsettling Economics”

Since the inaugural gathering there has been a sea change within the economics discipline. The establishment of the Association for Economic Research of Indigenous Peoples (AERIP) and the Indigenous Economics Study Group (IESG) within the Canadian Economics Association has helped connect scholars and practitioners across the globe and amplified the rapidly expanding research in this space.

 The 2020 ASSA session organized by Randy Akee centered on economics research in Indigenous contexts was honoured with Presidential session designation. The virtual seminar series launched by the Indigenous Economics Study group has drawn large audiences, allowing scholars at all career stages to receive critical feedback on their work, and included a student session and panel on the ethics of Indigenous data and empirical research. Anya Hageman published her open source textbook, and Carol-Anne Hilton published Indigonomics. Many of the papers presented at the Unsettling Economics Conference are now in print and new courses are being offered across North American Economics departments.  While much work remains to be done, the energy and commitment of Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars will help continue to unsettle economics and support economic reconciliation and Indigenous economic resurgence.

Donna Feir (University of Victoria), Rob Gillezeau (University of Victoria), and Rob Hancock (University of Victoria)

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AERIP Inaugural Blog Post (October 4, 2020)

Welcome to the AERIP blog!

Our inaugural blog post introduces the organization and its current agenda:

Why AERIP? 

Social science research and the public policies that emanate from it have often overlooked the persistence, distinctiveness, challenges, and ingenuity of Indigenous communities. The legacy of paternalistic, parochial, and even mistaken past research (i.e., that led to asset-stripping policies, cultural assimilation programs, the termination of tribes, and privatization of Indigenous public goods) necessitate a duty to follow high ethical standards in present and future research and policymaking. The challenges that Indigenous peoples face require context-specific understandings that cross the boundaries of language, culture, and academic disciplines. The most difficult challenges demand robust feedback loops between practitioners and scholars. Indigenous people themselves are generally underrepresented in the fields studying their communities’ problems and opportunities. These and related issues must be addressed to ensure the quality of research and policy related to Indigenous peoples. 

We started AERIP to increase the visibility of  Indigenous peoples and their communities within economics, related social science fields, and in policymaking. We work to reduce barriers to information and experience in the field; increase networking opportunities between researchers and practitioners; and provide a forum to exchange ideas, present research, discuss pressing issues, and disseminate information. We support students and new faculty in the field within a network of scholars and practitioners. 

Our immediate objectives

To have a sustained impact, AERIP seeks official recognition from the American Economic Association as a member of the Allied Social Science Association, a group of sixty-two academic and professional associations in economics and related fields. Among other things, official recognition will permit AERIP to participate in the ASSA’s three-day annual meetings, which gather more than 13,000 economists from around the world. We see ASSA recognition of AERIP as table stakes for raising the salience and quality of Indigenous economic research and policymaking.

AEA requires of applicant organizations three years of demonstrated existence, bylaws specifying elected leadership, and at least 300 members (among other things). Our short-term aim is to be ready for a formal application in time for the January 2022 ASSA meetings so that in January 2023, we can sponsor speakers and panels.

What have we done to date? 

We have written our bylaws and organized an initial board. We are building our membership. We currently have over 115 members, comprising professors, graduate students, consultants, government officials, and the citizens of Native nations. Please spread the word and the link! We are very grateful to River Tikwi Garza for creating our association logo. We have started posting syllabi of graduate and undergraduate classes related to Indigenous economics. [Thank you to those of you who contributed!] We had an inaugural association reception during the AEA meetings in January 2019. We have assembled conference sessions for the SEA and the AEA meetings in November 2020 and January 2021, respectively. Finally, we have disseminated information via our membership mailing list about workshops, conferences, job opportunities, and research opportunities related to our mission. More is coming.  Please stay tuned.

What is the purpose of the blog?

As important as they are, academic conference sessions won’t do all the work AERIP aims to do integrating and elevating the field. This blog means to complement those more formal academic conversations with shorter think-pieces. We are interested in academics’ and practitioners’ views on the news of the day, the ethics of the field, the latest research, and the gaps in knowledge that stymie progress on challenges facing Indigenous communities. If you have ideas for blog posts you’d like to write or voices you’d like to hear, please use the contact page to drop us a note.

Jonathan Taylor (AERIP Treasurer) and Valentina Dimitrova-Grajzl (AERIP Secretary)