Anthropological expertise in court. Appropriation, transformation and instrumentalization of anthropological knowledge by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

Abstract

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights was a pioneer in developing international laws in defense of indigenous and afrodescendant peoples. As part of this process, it called on anthropologists to contribute their knowledge of minority groups. This article analyzes how anthropological knowledge became a legal expertise. Based on an investigation of the ethnic and racial rulings of the Inter-American Court, anthropological expert reports and the writings of anthropologists on how they contributed to the court, it seeks to understand how judges have affected anthropology and how anthropologists have dealt with this legal framework.