International Recognition of Indigenous Rights, Indigenous Control of Development and Domestic Political Mobilisation

Abstract

Indigenous peoples have recently achieved increased recognition of Indigenous rights in international declarations and conventions, and national legislation. This increased recognition does not itself allow Indigenous peoples to achieve one of their central objectives, control over development which affects them or their ancestral lands. State authorities often ignore international legal instruments and domestic legislation in dealing with major resource projects on Indigenous land, and international recognition of Indigenous rights has no binding effect on the private resource corporations that increasingly dominate resource exploitation. Given this situation, Indigenous control of development can only be achieved by Indigenous mobilisation in the domestic political sphere, targeting both the state and resource corporations.