Marc Fonda | Western University Canada (original) (raw)

Papers by Marc Fonda

University of Alberta Press eBooks, Dec 30, 2023

International Indigenous Policy Journal, Mar 13, 2013

After reviewing some American research on the impacts religion has on adolescent sexual decision ... more After reviewing some American research on the impacts religion has on adolescent sexual decision making and teenage pregnancy, this article considered the few instances of Canadian research addressing this topic. With this contextual information in place, it then moves on to report on analysis comparing the 2001 Census figures on religions declared by Canadian First Nation communities to teen fertility rates and the Community Well-Being Index (CWB). It finds that First Nations teen fertility rates are related to relative socioeconomic deprivation, but also that religion has impacts on sexual decision making at the individual level and those First Nations communities showing no major religious adherence have teenage fertility rates of up to 140 per 1000, as compared to those communities showing one major tradition whose fertility rates are closer to 109 per 1000 adolescent First Nation women.

Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses, Aug 17, 2016

Since the 1960s, often in an urban setting and alongside the Friendship Centre movement, emerged ... more Since the 1960s, often in an urban setting and alongside the Friendship Centre movement, emerged a form of pan-Indian spirituality often used to connect urban Aboriginal people living far from their home communities and provide a safe cultural meeting place, a harbour for political protest, and an opportunity to embark on healing journeys. This paper will provide an introduction into some of the characteristics of pan-Indian spirituality mainly as expressed through the Healing Movement in particular, the social contexts in which it is emerging, and its national and international reach. The example of the Healing Movement, I argue, demonstrates the complexities of pan-Indian Spirituality, since it is developing through an interplay with localized Indigenous traditions and increasing levels of cross-tribal cultural and spiritual sharing, the encounter of Anglo-European and Indigenous cultures in the development of an ideology of pan-Indian spirituality, and the opportunities and challenges of the significant urbanized nature of Canadian First Nations’ lives.

International Indigenous Policy Journal, Oct 21, 2011

Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses, Jun 1, 2000

This essay examines Julia Kristeva's work on semiotics in relation to Mary Daly's project... more This essay examines Julia Kristeva's work on semiotics in relation to Mary Daly's project to reclaim language for woman's experience. It proceeds with an outline of Kristeva's theory of literary genre and then applies it to the work of the Mary Daly. Daly, a radical, separatist-feminist theologian-philosopher, is evolving her own "language" or discourse in a conscious attempt to challenge the expression of gender and identity in patriarchal culture. The essay concludes that there is significant theoretical agreement between Kristevan theory and Daly's own understanding of the production of text.

International Indigenous Policy Journal, Oct 21, 2011

In times like ours, when people are inundated with notions of consumerist identities, culture is ... more In times like ours, when people are inundated with notions of consumerist identities, culture is often seen mainly as a resource to be tapped into for economic development. This certainly is true of blatant consumerist culture produced by such economic behemoths as Hollywood, but it is a narrow view on the importance and functions of culture. The objective of this issue of the International Indigenous Policy Journal is to demonstrate the radical importance of culture and spirituality in not only defining a people and their society but also in affecting their well-being and how these things are all interrelated.

International Indigenous Policy Journal, 2013

After reviewing some American research on the impacts religion has on adolescent sexual decision ... more After reviewing some American research on the impacts religion has on adolescent sexual decision making and teenage pregnancy, this article considered the few instances of Canadian research addressing this topic. With this contextual information in place, it then moves on to report on analysis comparing the 2001 Census figures on religions declared by Canadian First Nation communities to teen fertility rates and the Community Well-Being Index (CWB). It finds that First Nations teen fertility rates are related to relative socio-economic deprivation, but also that religion has impacts on sexual decision making at the individual level and those First Nations communities showing no major religious adherence have teenage fertility rates of up to 140 per 1000, as compared to those communities showing one major tradition whose fertility rates are closer to 109 per 1000 adolescent First Nation women.

The International Indigenous Policy Journal, 2011

It is well-documented that European culture differs from that of Aboriginal culture. Perhaps one ... more It is well-documented that European culture differs from that of Aboriginal culture. Perhaps one of the most striking differences is in the relationships and attitudes each group has towards land. For Europeans the land is a commemorative gift of the creator there to be exploited for economic benefit; for Aboriginal peoples, the land is also a gift but one that a continuing extension of the creator’s immanence in which all things are related to one another. The one is an economic relation, the other a spiritual relation that denotes family. When two very different cultural systems encounter one another, there are bound to be clashes. Regardless, it is the overriding interests of the state that take precedence in countries where religious freedoms are constitutionally guaranteed – but such guarantees apply only insofar as the religions seeking freedom mirrors that of the dominate society. This paper explores these differences in relationships to land and how Aboriginal religious free...

Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses, 2000

Religious Studies and Theology, 2012

International Indigenous Policy Journal, 2013

This article reviews literature on the gradual construction of teenage pregnancy as a social issu... more This article reviews literature on the gradual construction of teenage pregnancy as a social issue in North America. It shows how teen motherhood emerged not as an issue unto itself, but as a microcosm of numerous, closely intertwined phenomena including: the evolution of Western views on human sexuality and gender roles; the place of religious values in society; and the emergence of various modern technologies, the social and medical sciences, and how such disciplines view childhood, motherhood, and women in society. In particular, it shows that even as teen pregnancy is today viewed primarily through public health and/or socioeconomic lenses, it has never been completely divorced from its original construction – as an indicator of failure to adhere to social, religious, and moral values. The article closes with an informal content analysis of several First Nations-related documents that highlight both similarities and differences to the non-Aboriginal perspective.

Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses

Canadian Public Administration

University of Alberta Press eBooks, Dec 30, 2023

International Indigenous Policy Journal, Mar 13, 2013

After reviewing some American research on the impacts religion has on adolescent sexual decision ... more After reviewing some American research on the impacts religion has on adolescent sexual decision making and teenage pregnancy, this article considered the few instances of Canadian research addressing this topic. With this contextual information in place, it then moves on to report on analysis comparing the 2001 Census figures on religions declared by Canadian First Nation communities to teen fertility rates and the Community Well-Being Index (CWB). It finds that First Nations teen fertility rates are related to relative socioeconomic deprivation, but also that religion has impacts on sexual decision making at the individual level and those First Nations communities showing no major religious adherence have teenage fertility rates of up to 140 per 1000, as compared to those communities showing one major tradition whose fertility rates are closer to 109 per 1000 adolescent First Nation women.

Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses, Aug 17, 2016

Since the 1960s, often in an urban setting and alongside the Friendship Centre movement, emerged ... more Since the 1960s, often in an urban setting and alongside the Friendship Centre movement, emerged a form of pan-Indian spirituality often used to connect urban Aboriginal people living far from their home communities and provide a safe cultural meeting place, a harbour for political protest, and an opportunity to embark on healing journeys. This paper will provide an introduction into some of the characteristics of pan-Indian spirituality mainly as expressed through the Healing Movement in particular, the social contexts in which it is emerging, and its national and international reach. The example of the Healing Movement, I argue, demonstrates the complexities of pan-Indian Spirituality, since it is developing through an interplay with localized Indigenous traditions and increasing levels of cross-tribal cultural and spiritual sharing, the encounter of Anglo-European and Indigenous cultures in the development of an ideology of pan-Indian spirituality, and the opportunities and challenges of the significant urbanized nature of Canadian First Nations’ lives.

International Indigenous Policy Journal, Oct 21, 2011

Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses, Jun 1, 2000

This essay examines Julia Kristeva's work on semiotics in relation to Mary Daly's project... more This essay examines Julia Kristeva's work on semiotics in relation to Mary Daly's project to reclaim language for woman's experience. It proceeds with an outline of Kristeva's theory of literary genre and then applies it to the work of the Mary Daly. Daly, a radical, separatist-feminist theologian-philosopher, is evolving her own "language" or discourse in a conscious attempt to challenge the expression of gender and identity in patriarchal culture. The essay concludes that there is significant theoretical agreement between Kristevan theory and Daly's own understanding of the production of text.

International Indigenous Policy Journal, Oct 21, 2011

In times like ours, when people are inundated with notions of consumerist identities, culture is ... more In times like ours, when people are inundated with notions of consumerist identities, culture is often seen mainly as a resource to be tapped into for economic development. This certainly is true of blatant consumerist culture produced by such economic behemoths as Hollywood, but it is a narrow view on the importance and functions of culture. The objective of this issue of the International Indigenous Policy Journal is to demonstrate the radical importance of culture and spirituality in not only defining a people and their society but also in affecting their well-being and how these things are all interrelated.

International Indigenous Policy Journal, 2013

After reviewing some American research on the impacts religion has on adolescent sexual decision ... more After reviewing some American research on the impacts religion has on adolescent sexual decision making and teenage pregnancy, this article considered the few instances of Canadian research addressing this topic. With this contextual information in place, it then moves on to report on analysis comparing the 2001 Census figures on religions declared by Canadian First Nation communities to teen fertility rates and the Community Well-Being Index (CWB). It finds that First Nations teen fertility rates are related to relative socio-economic deprivation, but also that religion has impacts on sexual decision making at the individual level and those First Nations communities showing no major religious adherence have teenage fertility rates of up to 140 per 1000, as compared to those communities showing one major tradition whose fertility rates are closer to 109 per 1000 adolescent First Nation women.

The International Indigenous Policy Journal, 2011

It is well-documented that European culture differs from that of Aboriginal culture. Perhaps one ... more It is well-documented that European culture differs from that of Aboriginal culture. Perhaps one of the most striking differences is in the relationships and attitudes each group has towards land. For Europeans the land is a commemorative gift of the creator there to be exploited for economic benefit; for Aboriginal peoples, the land is also a gift but one that a continuing extension of the creator’s immanence in which all things are related to one another. The one is an economic relation, the other a spiritual relation that denotes family. When two very different cultural systems encounter one another, there are bound to be clashes. Regardless, it is the overriding interests of the state that take precedence in countries where religious freedoms are constitutionally guaranteed – but such guarantees apply only insofar as the religions seeking freedom mirrors that of the dominate society. This paper explores these differences in relationships to land and how Aboriginal religious free...

Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses, 2000

Religious Studies and Theology, 2012

International Indigenous Policy Journal, 2013

This article reviews literature on the gradual construction of teenage pregnancy as a social issu... more This article reviews literature on the gradual construction of teenage pregnancy as a social issue in North America. It shows how teen motherhood emerged not as an issue unto itself, but as a microcosm of numerous, closely intertwined phenomena including: the evolution of Western views on human sexuality and gender roles; the place of religious values in society; and the emergence of various modern technologies, the social and medical sciences, and how such disciplines view childhood, motherhood, and women in society. In particular, it shows that even as teen pregnancy is today viewed primarily through public health and/or socioeconomic lenses, it has never been completely divorced from its original construction – as an indicator of failure to adhere to social, religious, and moral values. The article closes with an informal content analysis of several First Nations-related documents that highlight both similarities and differences to the non-Aboriginal perspective.

Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses

Canadian Public Administration