YUPIK ESKIMO AGENTS AND AMERICAN LEGAL AGENCIES - PERSPECTIVES ON COMPLIANCE AND RESISTANCE

Theories assuming that relations of dominance and subordination inhere ntly characterize agency may obscure the ideological frames and social relations to which actors actually attend. The failure of such theori es to take into account cultural ideologies concerning agency is a cri tical shortcoming. This article suggests that compliance and resistanc e have meaning only where actors share the same ideological framework A sociolinguistic and ethnographic study of the contrasting ideologies informing interactions between Euroamerican legal professionals and Y up'ik Eskimo clients and witnesses provides the basis for discussion.