Between Colonial Heritage and Political Autonomy. Comparing the Experience of Australian, American and Canadian Aboriginal Peoples in the Turmoil of Welfare State Reform

Long excluded, then victims of forced assimilation, aboriginal peoples are now evaluating the conditions of their belonging to and participation in citizenship regimes in these three former colonies. The processes of welfare state restructuring may influence the dynamic of identity claims of aboriginal peoples, by modifying the parameters of social citizenship and the relations that aboriginal peoples have with the state. These reforms lean, on the one hand, towards integrated policy with targeted programmes and, on the other hand, towards greater local autonomy in programme management. The post-war citizenship regime in contrast favoured a uniform relationship between citizens and the state, thereby setting up a contradiction between the terms of the citizenship regime and maintenance of a distinct legal regime for aboriginal peoples. The current model seems less likely to constitute a block to recognition of multiplicity and differentiation.