Declarations of Independence: Sovereignty, Identity, and the Constitution of the “Other”

Abstract

ABSTRACTWith the rise of Indigenous awareness, the formation of groups to argue for native title, and the global diaspora coming together in their pursuit of landed recognition, claiming sovereignty takes many forms: declaration, contestation, governance, land reclamation, and enterprise formation. These forms, examined as a collective whole, may be seen as the first pragmatic steps in self-determination for, often Indigenous, minorities. More importantly, they may be seen as a stage in the evolution of expressing spiritual and cultural ontology of the “other.” Not only is this expression, the seeking of an acknowledgement of a changing cast of actors in the global regime for self-determination, spiritual, and ontological recognition, but also underlies the need for recognizing a plurality of thought that one system of jurisprudence may not be able to defend.