Short description:

Unstable Properties convincingly argues that the so-called land question in British Columbia cannot be resolved without understanding the fundamentally unstable ideological foundation of land and title arrangements on which the province rests.

Long description:

The so-called land question dominates political discourse in British Columbia. Unstable Properties reverses the usual approach ? investigating Aboriginal claims to Crown land ? to reframe the issue as a history of Crown attempts to solidify claims to Indigenous territory.

The political and intellectual leadership of First Nations has exposed the fragility of BC?s political and civil property regimes, insisting that the province grapple with diverse interpretations of sovereignty, governance, territory, and property. From the historical-geographic processes through which the BC polity became entrenched in its present territory to key events of the twenty-first century, the authors of this clear-eyed study highlight the unstable ideological foundation of land and title arrangements.

In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission emphasized the need to educate Canadians about settler colonialism. Unstable Properties puts critical human geography at the service of this goal by demonstrating that understanding different conceptualizations of land and territorialization is a key element of reconciliation.

This is critical reading for legal scholars and anyone interested in Indigenous rights.

Table of Contents:

Introduction: Paper Claims

1 The Invention of British Columbia

2 Calder, Churn, and Destabilization: 1973?97

3 Unsettled in the Wake of Delgamuukw

4 The Politics of Refusal and the End of the Political Path, 2004?14

5 Property, Territory, Sovereignty, and Citizenship

Conclusion: Reconciliation and Reimagining British Columbia

References; Index