Lost in Translation? The Subversion of the Right to Prior Consultation in Indigenous Mining Protests in Guatemala

Abstract

Human rights acquire relevance at the local level when they are adapted to the local context and culture. This adaptation process, which is also referred to as ‘vernacularisation’, fosters a local rights consciousness, but may also dilute or subvert these international human rights norms. This paper examines the vernacularisation of the right to prior consultation in Sipakapa, Guatemala, where indigenous communities base their mining protests on this right. The interview-based case study reveals how the international concept of prior consultation has become hybridised with the local decision-making mechanism of consulta comunitaria (‘community referendum’). This is problematic, because the implications of the global and local understanding of the notion of consultation are fundamentally different. The misinterpretation can partly be ascribed to a mistranslation of the concept by local civil society organisations that fulfil the role of translator in the vernacularisation process. Their flawed information furthermore created unrealistic expectations, which, in the already contentious political context, resulted in a radicalisation and polarisation of the protests. This implies that the legalistic nature of the human rights discourse places a strong constraint on vernacularisation, because a correct translation often requires technical legal expertise that tends to be lacking among local civil society actors.