Ideologies of oppression, resource colonialism, and resistance in the Canadian settler state

This thesis explores the ideological dimensions of discourses of oppression with a specific focus on the intersection between capitalism, racism, and resource colonialism in debates and struggles around decolonization in the Canadian context. It builds from considerations of Western critical theories of authenticity, identity formation, normalization, decolonialization, and Marxism largely in work by Jean-Paul Sartre and Frantz Fanon and explores how these theories influenced contemporary decolonization theorists such as Dene scholar Glen Coulthard. I argue that issues and debates raised by these thinkers can help elucidate ideologies of oppression in Canada as a colonial settler state. The thesis examines issues of resource colonialism and environmental racism as key aspects influenced by a capitalist logic of extraction that puts economic resource development over the interests of Indigenous populations, legitimating the ongoing hegemony of the white settler state despite recent initiatives to promote reconciliation.