QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY CENTRE FOR ECONOMIC HISTORY (QUCEH) SEMINAR 

Friday 28^th February

1pm

“Coercive Assimilation Policy Across Generations: Evidence from American Indian Boarding Schools​”

Abstract

Throughout history, governments, colonial powers, and other state actors have sought to reshape culture and identities through assimilation policies and indoctrination efforts, often targeting ethnic minorities. In this paper, I show that coercive assimilation policy can cause substantial cultural change, but that these effects do not necessarily persist, and may even reverse. I focus on a historical policy in the United States under which authorities removed Native American children to distant boarding schools. I exploit the staggered recruitment patterns of schools and variation in cohort exposure to facilitate causal identification. I show that exposure to boarding schools offered few economic benefits, but did lead to substantial cultural assimilation as measured through community perceptions of race. . However, I find that this assimilation did not come at the expense of cultural connection, with treated cohorts more likely to maintain an attachment to their home communities. In line with the historical literature, my results suggest that the policy may have strengthened the identities it sought to erase.

About the speaker

Christian is a research Fellow at Trinity College Dublin and the Centre for Economics, Policy, and History. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from CEMFI.  He works on topics related to Economic History, Political Economy, and Development Economics. He is particularly interested in studying the effectiveness of government policy in generating cultural change and reshaping ethnic identities.

Christian Maruthiah

Trinity College Dublin

QBS Conference Hub, Seminar Room 01.012