Indigenous Peoples and the UN Commission on Human Rights: A Case of the Immovable Object and the Irresistible Force

Barsh, Russel Lawrence

doi:10.1353/hrq.1996.0038

Cited by 36 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Some groups began to challenge their status as "minorities" within a nation-state to insist on their status as "indigenous peoples" at an international level. 4 Greenpeace, which combined anti-nuclear and peace activism with global conservation, used the image of indigenous people to critique the morals and practices of industrial society; at the same time, however, they showed little regard for indigenous 4 The terminology is significant. The term "minorities" is an older, state-centered terminology, whereas indigenous peoples implies recognition beyond the state.…”

Section: How Environmental Groups Began To Support Indigenous Rightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, there is little grassroots support and much official opposition to the category, which makes obvious that its emergence is often difficult and always political [1][2][3][4]. Second, although Tibetans in China are the one group that could most easily attain recognition as indigenous by international organizations, they are either largely unaware of the possibility or uninterested in this status [2,5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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China’s Indigenous Peoples? How Global Environmentalism Unintentionally Smuggled the Notion of Indigeneity into China

Hathaway

2016

Humanities

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This article explores how global environmental organizations unintentionally fostered the notion of indigenous people and rights in a country that officially opposed these concepts. In the 1990s, Beijing declared itself a supporter of indigenous rights elsewhere, but asserted that, unlike the Americas and Australia, China had no indigenous people. Instead, China described itself as a land of "ethnic minority" groups, not indigenous groups. In some sense, the state's declaration appeared effective, as none of these ethnic minority groups launched significant grassroots efforts to align themselves with the international indigenous rights movement. At the same time, as international environmental groups increased in number and strength in 1990s China, their policies were undergoing significant transformations to more explicitly support indigenous people. This article examines how this challenging situation arose, and discusses the unintended consequences after a major environmental organization, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), carried out a project using the language of indigeneity in China.

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Section: How Environmental Groups Began To Support Indigenous Rightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

China’s Indigenous Peoples? How Global Environmentalism Unintentionally Smuggled the Notion of Indigeneity into China

Hathaway

2016

Humanities

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“…While the vast majority of nations respect notions of internal cultural self-determination, specific concerns often revolve around land tenure, secession to independent 'statehoods' and the protection of national territorial integrity (Barsh, 1996). The parallel development of international concepts of Indigenous people's rights and their respective appropriateness to each Indigenous group, and the actual influence on respective governing nations is thus a complex and evolving space.…”

Section: Practical Problems With Indigenous Ancestral Domain Rightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The unique origins, modern history and land rights of one of the most isolated and least documented Indigenous groups in the Philippines, the Aeta Magbukún of Bataan, is a fascinating microcosm of human rights in the Asia Pacific. Barsh (1996) and Kingsbury (1998; note some national governments in the Asia Pacific region question the existence of Indigenous peoples, largely in the fear that recognizing 'Indigenousness' would create uncertainties for land tenure and generate political instability. In essence, such governments ask for a particularly demanding level of identity assessment of Indigenous people in the region, and if they experience a greater level of misfortune and dispossession directly due to the encroaching newcomers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In essence, such governments ask for a particularly demanding level of identity assessment of Indigenous people in the region, and if they experience a greater level of misfortune and dispossession directly due to the encroaching newcomers. This discouragingly 'high bar' introduces complexities well beyond the relatively simple distinctions and perceptions of European colonization of an Indigenous people (Barsh, 1996;Theriault, 2011). Furthermore, Watts (2003) notes that arbitrarily constructing 'Indigeneity' for harnessing international political support is often in practice problematic and erroneous, and in contrast should be founded on shared customary rights to land, empowerment and a distinct ethnicity and culture.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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TheIndigenousAetas ofBataan,Philippines: Extraordinary genetic origins, modern history and land rights

McHenry

Anwar‐McHenry

Balilla

et al. 2013

Singap J Trop Geogr

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The Aeta Magbukún of Bataan in Luzon, the Philippines remain one of the least known and documented Indigenous tribes. They retain primarily subsistence hunter-gathering strategies to supply their basic needs. They also strive for recognition of their ancestral connection with, and rights to inhabit their ancestral forest domains, which is threatened by the expansion of agriculture and urban development by non-Aetas, primarily the majority Tagalog population. The Aeta continue to endure dispossession, poverty and political discrimination through decades of protracted land rights processes. This review explores the potential use of recent genetic evidence in anthropology and human geography to legitimize the Aeta's status as Indigenous people and contradict the perspective of some governments in the Asia Pacific region who question the existence of Indigenous peoples generally, often from fear of land tenure and associated political repercussions. The acquisition and use of genetic research on Indigenous populations is both socially and politically contested through fear of the potential to jeopardize sovereignty claims and lead to biologically-based discrimination. However, the full implications of the potential use of genetic research to legitimize Indigenous status, as described within this research, has yet to be thoroughly explored. By exploring both the genetic and anthropological evidence using a case study of the Indigenous Aeta, this paper provides a unique approach to building a case for Indigenous rights, occupation, use of ancestral lands, self-determination, and ultimately, recognition as Indigenous people.

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Global Context – Arctic Importance: Free, Prior and Informed Consent, a New Paradigm in International Law Related to Indigenous Peoples

Heinämäki

2015

Indigenous Peoples’ Governance of Land and Protected Territories in the Arctic

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Indigenous Peoples and the UN Commission on Human Rights: A Case of the Immovable Object and the Irresistible Force

Cited by 36 publications

References 2 publications

China’s Indigenous Peoples? How Global Environmentalism Unintentionally Smuggled the Notion of Indigeneity into China

China’s Indigenous Peoples? How Global Environmentalism Unintentionally Smuggled the Notion of Indigeneity into China

TheIndigenousAetas ofBataan,Philippines: Extraordinary genetic origins, modern history and land rights

Global Context – Arctic Importance: Free, Prior and Informed Consent, a New Paradigm in International Law Related to Indigenous Peoples

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