Arctic Canada and Zambia: A Comparison of Development Processes in the Fourth and Third Worlds

An analysis of the processes behind socio-economic development is necessary to further the understanding of contemporary Inuit conditions in arctic Canada. It is apparent that many of the realities and reasons underlying development in the North are similar to those in the Third World. The term development encompasses strategies and programs to improve living conditions of the target population, processes that either directly or indirectly transform indigenous economies into ones like those of the Western world, and theories that seek to explain these changes and their outcomes. People from government, business, and religion were the agents of development in both Canada and Africa. One of the most overt changes to indigenous societies brought about by these agents was a shift to a modern market-oriented economy. Education is part of a development process and contributed to this change. Education in arctic Canada and a Third Word country, Zambia, is based on teaching local residents to participate in a Euro-North American economic system. In both countries, however, the national or regional economies cannot sustain employment for many of the educated indigenous people. In Lwawu, a remote part of Zambia, this has led to social tensions and polarization between socio-economic classes. In arctic Canada, it has contributed to confusion over one's cultural identity and an inability to participate economically in either the modern or traditional sectors. The Inuit face added difficulties in that to obtain wage employment they must integrate within national cultural, economic, and political systems governed by people who are of different races and cultures and not indigenous to Canada. The end result of these and similar situations is that indigenous people are not necessarily better off than before contact with development agents.