Shifting Boundaries: Aboriginal Identity, Pluralist Theory and the Politics of Self-Government, Tim Schouls., Vancouver: UBC Press 2003, pp. xiv, 224

This fine, taut contribution to the sprawling literature on Aboriginality, identity and self-government in Canada begins with a critique of what Schouls terms the “difference approach.” This approach sees the vigour of Aboriginal communal culture as fundamental to the wellbeing of Aboriginal individuals and nations, and accordingly, the retention of cultural traits as a basic goal of Aboriginal politics.