Impact and Benefit Agreements and the Neoliberalization of Resource Governance and Indigenous-State Relations in Northern Canada

This paper critically interrogates the state’s relation to Impact and Benefit Agreements (IBAs) in Northern Canada. Theorizing IBAs in relation to processes of neoliber-alization sharpens analysis of shifting relations between Indigenous peoples, mining corporations, and the state. We argue that IBAs are functioning as tools for the privatization of the federal duty to consult Indigenous peoples about resource development on their lands, naturalizing market-based solutions to social suffering, and limiting access to important political and legal channels.