Solen Roth

SOLEN CECILE ROTH, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada, was awarded a Hunt Postdoctoral Fellowship in October 2016 to aid research and writing on ‘Culturally Modified Capitalism: Indigenizing Capitalist Markets in the Name of Cultural Perpetuity.’ This research examines the market of Indigenous-themed products in Canada through two case studies: 1) in Vancouver, British Columbia, it shows how Northwest Coast artists and entrepreneurs have progressively gained greater control over the industry that reproduces their designs on mass-produced objects of everyday life, and 2) in the Upper Mauricie region of Qu’bec, it discusses how members of the Atikamekw Nehirowisiwok Nation are currently working to develop a market for their art products in a way that respects their social institutions and nurtures their ways of life. In these two contexts, as a result of the involvement of Indigenous artists, entrepreneurs, and employees in the commodification of their own cultural heritage, capitalist market relations are infused with approaches to property, relationships, and economics that directly reflect their histories and worldviews. These processes result in examples of what can be called ‘culturally modified capitalism’, a concept that highlights the reciprocal tension that exists between the use of capitalism as a means of perpetuating local cultures and, in turn, the perpetuation of capitalism by its integration of culturally specific values and practices.