Introduction

This chapter establishes the conceptual foundations for analysing Indigenous economies through a political economy lens. It argues that land, sovereignty, and resource governance are not neutral “economic variables” but lived and contested realities shaped by settler colonialism, racial capitalism, and global systems of extraction. Drawing on decolonial theory, world-systems analysis, and Marxian political economy, the chapter reframes Indigenous political economies as dynamic and adaptive systems grounded in reciprocity, kinship obligations, ecological stewardship, and cultural continuity—rather than as “pre-modern” or obsolete formations. It also critiques mainstream development paradigms and partial recognition frameworks, including uneven implementation of UNDRIP, for failing to confront material dispossession and extractive development. The chapter closes by positioning Indigenous-led economic models as sources of both decolonial justice and transformative alternatives, setting up subsequent chapters on the mechanisms of imperial expansion and ongoing Indigenous resurgence.