Afro-descendant Peoples Research Articles

The challenges in the utilization of marine genetic resources in national and international jurisdictions from a legal perspective

This article examines the legal challenges associated with the utilization of marine genetic resources (MGR) at both the national level and beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). The legal challenges addressed are as follows: 1) MGR are located across various jurisdictions, encompassing both national and international domains. The analysis starts with an overview of the international regulations that govern the utilization of genetic resources (GR) and their influence on national legislation. It emphasizes the principle of state sovereignty over natural resources while defining MGR and determining ownership; 2) It further highlights the intersection of national and international laws, particularly in transboundary contexts and within Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples (IADP) territories, analyzing how these regulations are interpreted and applied in such scenarios; 3) The legal challenges related to the use of MGR in international waters are examined. Special emphasis is placed on the recent United Nations (UN) Agreement concerning this issue. This includes an analysis of its impact and specific provisions related to the utilization of MGR, such as the quantity to be collected, the methodology employed, collection sites, among others. The article concludes by asserting that the equitable distribution of benefits from the use of GR should begin at the earliest stages of access to these resources, including project planning and sample collection, rather than being delayed until the patenting and commercialization phases. Early benefit-sharing is essential for promoting fairness and equity in the use of MGR.

Calling racism by its name: forms of violence in the articulation or omission of racism in Ecuador

ABSTRACT In Ecuador, the ideology of mestizaje has resulted in the denial or minimization of racism against Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples. This denial coexists, however, with the consciousness of racialized difference. If racism is most of the time minimized and naturalized, in this paper I propose that we need to consider the circumstances that may generate awareness of racism and a public speaking up against it. Comparing two cases involving Afro-descendant and Indigenous people in conflict with external actors, I analyze the role that different forms of violence play in the public articulation of racism. I contend that violent physical conflict may result in breaking the silence on state racism, while diffuse or slow forms of violence may result in the backgrounding of explicit denunciations of racism.

Higher education and indigenous and afro-descendant peoples as a field of study and intervention in Latin America

Since 2008, there has been a notable increase in studies on processes of inclusion, retention and graduation of indigenous students in higher education in Latin America; a growing interest in research and university extension activities in collaboration with indigenous and Afro-descendant communities; and the establishment of intercultural academic spaces in the region. This article offers a literature review analysis of this field of study and intervention, elaborated in Spanish and Portuguese in the framework of Latin American institutions. This analysis identifies the various voices, analytical perspectives, lines of research, conceptual debates and contributions that enrich the understanding of some types of experiences in this field, often described as 'intercultural', and others usually considered as educational inclusion of indigenous and Afro-descendant populations in the field of Higher Education in Latin America. The literature review reveals that much of this research is the result of collaborative work between diverse actors committed to promoting intercultural perspectives at the higher education level, and reflects the historical struggles sustained by these peoples as the fundamental structuring component of these experiences. It is concluded that the increase in research and interventions makes it plausible to postulate and describe the consolidation of a specific field of study and intervention for Latin America, which can be defined as 'Higher Education, Indigenous and Afro-descendant Peoples' and that the experiences analysed reflect a particular and historical link between university systems and Indigenous and Afro-descendant Peoples in Latin America.

Biographical-poetic journeys: A conversation with Yeison F. García López

Inspired by W. E. B. Du Bois’s notion of double consciousness, Yeison F. García López assumes multiple identities: Afro-Colombian and Afro-Spanish. This multiplicity allows García López to assert a politically active citizenship, articulated through his migrant journey, his Afro-descendant and Colombian heritage, and his connection with Madrid society. This conversation delves into how García López’s body of work as a poet, theorist, activist, and cultural agent contributes to an emerging Spanish, global, and transatlantic LatinX Latinity (LatinXness) from the Spanish capital. Overall, García López’s efforts shine a spotlight on Spain’s present-day plurality, highlighting the contributions of Africans and Afro-descendant people. He establishes connections among migrant communities of Latin American, Afro-descendant, and Asian origin as well as migrants from Eastern Europe descent, and Roma people and subverts Eurocentrism, colonialism, and white supremacy. García López’s publications and cultural initiatives serve as a platform to amplify the voices of Madrid’s migrant and racialized people, promoting culture as a form of resistance, healing, and empowerment.

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

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.

Fostering greater recognition of Caribbean traditional plant knowledge

The Caribbean is a hotspot of biological and cultural diversity, manifested in traditional plant knowledge of Afrodescendant peoples and other ethnicities. To strengthen the visibility of this knowledge in research, education, and policy making, we propose an eight-step action plan centered on reciprocal relationships with Caribbean plant stewards, especially subsistence farmers.

INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE IN PORTUGAL: A LEGAL-ANTHROPOLOGICAL ANALYSIS ON STATE INTERVENTION IN MINORITY ISSUES

Portugal enacted 1999 the Protection of Children and Young People in Danger Act (PCYPDA), intending to guarantee the children’s well-being and integral development in an ever-evolving plural society, for which the notion of parental care is a contentious matter. In analyzing the PCYPDA two decades later, this analysis notes the substantial case law associated with it that constitutes the so-called Portuguese multicultural jurisprudence (Foblets and Dundes Renteln 2009). Those cases concern mainly state intervention in families with ethnic backgrounds­—Roma and Afro-descendant peoples—and suggest an “intercultural dialogue.” This paper engages with the case law related to the PCYPDA through an anthropologically-informed approach to legal research (Dembour 2020). It addresses the questions of to which extent state intervention is necessary for family matters and the modalities of such intervention. Notably, the PCYPDA had impact on an international level with the case Soares de Melo v Portugal (2016), which condemned Portugal for violating the right to respect for private and family life (Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights) due to the placement of Afro-descendant children for adoption on grounds of the mother’s poverty and refusal to undergo sterilization.

Contributions of Intercultural Socioenvironmental Justice to the 2030 Agenda in the Colombian Caribbean

The 2030 Agenda has influenced the design of public policies in Colombia and other countries in the region, but there are many gaps in the way a global policy can be interpreted and adapted to the territories. Thus, this article aims to critically evaluate the public policy of sustainability implemented in the Colombian Caribbean and to suggest contributions from an intercultural socioenvironmental justice perspective. For this purpose, the public policy of sustainability that orients the plans for the use of insular ecosystems in Cartagena de Indias has been examined and confronted with local evidence that shows significant changes in the forms of life and ecological degradation in multi-temporally analysed coverages. Methodologically, this research is based on three aspects: the theoretical discussion of the notions of sustainability and justice in public policies, spatial databases to analyse the transformation of landscapes and ethnographic work with Afro-descendant peoples to recognise their socioecological systems. We found that the public policy of territorial planning aligned with the 2030 Agenda nominally includes a rights approach, but management practices or governance structures do not consider the very high asymmetry in land tenure, the growing private and non-participatory regulation of coasts and the sea or the exclusion of Afro-descendant peoples who claim tenure and autonomy rights. Then, we propose integrated dimensions of sustainability that overcome the socioecological negativity observed and articulate criteria of intercultural justice in public, social and environmental policies.

Protecting Indigenous and Local Knowledge Through a Biocultural Diversity Framework

Indigenous and Local Knowledge (ILK) is intrinsically connected to knowledge holders’ worldviews and relationships to their environments. Mainstream rights-based approaches do not recognize this interconnection and are hence limited at protecting the integrity of ILK. This paper presents two cases in Colombia in which, by recognizing community-environment interconnections, the biocultural diversity framework advanced the protection of communities’ ILK. The first case draws on court findings that recognized Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples’ biocultural rights and granted legal personhood to the Atrato River—a pioneering ruling in the American hemisphere. The second case involved participatory fieldwork with the Embera peoples in designing a biocultural community protocol, reinforcing their relationship with the forest and protecting their biocultural heritage. The two cases illustrate that the biocultural diversity framework is inclusive of Indigenous and local communities’ worldviews and is hence an essential tool for the development of culturally appropriate protective mechanisms for ILK.

Négritude et Amérique Latine: From the Black South Atlantic to the Third World

ABSTRACT In the second half of the twentieth century, during the rise of Third World internationalism, a series of conferences and festivals took place on both sides of the Atlantic, which were fundamental for the articulation of a Pan-African global community that linked the continent with its diaspora. These meetings provided spaces of encounter and circulation of ideas among artists and intellectuals, who were able to connect the struggles and emancipatory imagination of Afro-descendant peoples beyond national boundaries. This article focuses on the Négritude et Amérique latine conference, held in Dakar in 1974, under the ideological and political patronage of Léopold Sédar Senghor. It discusses the role of Négritude both as an ideological and political movement that sought to extend solidarity networks between Africans and Afro-descendants and served as ideological grounding of Senghorian politics. The author considers the Dakar conference as a trigger for an international cultural diplomacy articulated on the idea of a “racial fraternity” and Third World solidarity, which gain strength during the cold war in particular and constitutes a fundamental episode of the formation of the Global South not only as a geopolitical but also as a historical concept.

Latin American International Law and Afro-Descendant Peoples

After the Third World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance, held by the United Nations in Durban, South Africa, in 2001, an important movement emerged. The African diaspora communities in the Americas, or “Afro-descendants,” as they prefer to self-identify, began to seek legal recognition in the context of international human rights law, and especially within the inter-American human rights system. Progress has been remarkable, including the rulings of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, changes in the constitutional and legal systems of Latin American countries, and a UN draft of a Declaration of the Rights of People of African Descent, as part of the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015–2024). However, conceptual, technical, and doctrinal issues still exist in defining the legal agency of people of African descent under international law. Who are Afro-descendants in legal terms, and how do we understand “Afro-descendance” within the context of Indigenous and tribal peoples? In this essay, I explain how different regional bodies in Latin America have interpreted Indigenous rights progressively to overcome the marginalization of Afro-descendants, and address some important questions that remain unclear despite this welcome evolution.

Encarcelamiento masivo y violaciones a los derechos humanos: estudio ligado a personas afrodescendientes

The central thesis of this article is that in prisons the inmate population suffers, in general, and the groups excessively represented in them, in particular, human rights regressivity. From an ethnic perspective, the study method is documentary and focuses exclusively on Afro-descendant people as subjects of special protection, problematizing on three basic points, namely: the representative ideology of Afro-descendant people as criminals; the regressivity of human rights in the Americas as a fact that drives crime levels; and this situation doubly aggravated due to overcrowding in prisons as the norm.

Settler Colonialism, Race and the Law: Why Structural Racism Persists by Natsu Taylor Saito

Reviewed by: Settler Colonialism, Race and the Law: Why Structural Racism Persists by Natsu Taylor Saito Shezadi Khushal Natsu Taylor Saito. Settler Colonialism, Race and the Law: Why Structural Racism Persists. New York: New York University Press, 2020. 368 pp. Notes. Cases. Index. $60.00 USD hc. Natsu Taylor Saito’s book, Settler Colonialism, Race, and the Law: Why Structural Racism Persists, theorizes racial inequities from a legal perspective. The book’s main aim is to examine: (1) settler colonial theory and practice; (2) the relationship between racial justice and the law; and (3) domestic and international legal perspectives. In a critical race studies book series, Saito explains that it has been 70 years since the civil rights movement, yet things have not gotten much better for people of colour in terms of disparities and injustices…racial justice ultimately cannot succeed unless there is a willingness to acknowledge ongoing colonization. This 12-chapter book is organized thematically in three parts. Part one (Chapters 1-3) lays the groundwork for understanding structural racism as a function of ongoing colonization. Part two (Chapters 4-8) offers historical narratives and strategies used by settlers to further subjugation. Part three (Chapters 9-12) focuses on remedial possibilities. The introductory chapter commences powerfully by asking, how do we rectify a system that so brilliantly serves its intended purpose? asserting the notion that racialization is essential to the establishment and maintenance of structures of power and privilege in the United States, and that ignoring the reality of White supremacy in America is no longer an option (2). Chapters 1-3 explore themes of racial disparity, activism, repression and libera-tory potential. Only by acknowledging the persistence and adaptability of racism, will we be able to envision strategies capable of bringing about meaningful structural change (9). The author introduces the concept of a “false consciousness”, which implies that meaningful change will require narratives that incorporate the histories [End Page 131] and lived realities of peoples of color (24). These chapters also explore the violence of colonization, where lived realities of Indigenous peoples and others have been excluded from the settler class narrative (34). In Chapter 4, we understand that Indigenous peoples’ claims to their traditional lands are consistently ignored, and that “securing land remains integral to United States’ establishment and expansion, the creation of wealth and power, and the maintenance of global hegemony” (57). Chapter 5 contextualizes enslaved labor and examines strategies of subjugation used to “create, contain and control a workforce of enslaved Indigenous, African, and Afrodescendant peoples” (6). Settler colonial strategies of subjugation (i.e., population control, spatial containment, violence and terror) were intended to transform Africans from peoples into units of production (84).` Chapter 6 discusses the means used to contain and control African Americans, and the exclusion from opportunities that facilitated their economic and political independence. This includes criminalization, exclusion from property ownership and mass incarnation. The very title of this chapter places “emancipated” in quotations to illustrate that despite the 13th Amendment ratification in 1866 to forbid slavery and involuntary servitude, it, in fact, continued to subjugate and oppress African Americans. Understanding that racialization and colonization work simultaneously to “other” entire peoples, Chapter 7 explores theorizing the other, specifically, the “migrant other”. Migrant others have played significant and differing roles within the American settler colonial paradigm. This chapter also examines strategies used to subjugate and exploit peoples of color who have been incorporated into and excluded from settler society (115), and urges readers to understand that while anti-racist action may not deconstruct colonialism, decolonization may, in fact, be a prerequisite to eliminating racism in the United States (114). Chapter 8 instructs that American settler colonialism will not change the underlying structural dynamics that perpetuate hierarchies of racialized privilege and subjugation (153), and emphasizes the need to develop analytical tools and strategies of resistance for transformation. This chapter also stresses the importance of Law as a pathway to racial justice. In Chapter 9, Saito argues that protection under domestic law has failed to ensure racial justice because of its exclusion of people of colour from constitutional protection; and even when constitutional protection is available, it has been interpreted to preclude assimilation, thereby...

Decolonial Possibilities of Reintroducing the Devil in the Public Space of Afro‐Ecuadorian Territories

The article discusses the decolonial possibilities of the collective design of a sound artwork in reimagining the role of two Afro‐Ecuadorian music and dance‐based events in the Afro‐Ecuadorian ancestral territories of North Esmeraldas and Chota‐Mira. The two events, Bomba del Chota and Marimba Esmeraldeña, emerged in the context of slavery and colonialism as a response of Afro‐Ecuadorians to the oppression and violence they endured. These two music and dance‐based events sustain a counter‐narrative of power and resistance for Afrodescendant peoples in Ecuador, weaving meaningful connections among them and other entities populating their territories, such as the “devil,” whose cohabitation with Afro‐Ecuadorians will be at the spotlight of our analysis. Based on the audio‐recorded testimonies of these connections that strongly existed until the 1970s, and of a sonic composition that was created from them, we propose a collaborative design of a sound artwork in the public spaces of the jungle in Esmeraldas and the mountain in Chota‐Mira. We discuss how a decolonial approach to the design of the artwork can serve as a dialogical space to engage inhabitants in their re‐connection to the possibilities of resistance that their ancestors nurtured in their territories through the practice of the two music and dance‐based events. Through a political reading of soundscapes, an argument is developed to show how sound constructs the public spaces that root people in their territories, connecting them with meaningful stories and practices that keep being forgotten due to the on‐going consequences of slavery and colonialism. The article contributes to the discussion about political ecologies and the collective production of public spaces as a joyful response to exclusion and oppression.

How did COVID-19 measures impact sexual behaviour and access to HIV/STI services in Panama? Results from a national cross-sectional online survey

ObjectiveTo describe reported changes in sexual behaviours, including virtual sex (sexting and cybersex), and access to HIV/STI testing and care during COVID-19 measures in Panama.MethodsWe conducted an online cross-sectional survey...

Afro-Dog: Blackness and the Animal Question

Afro-Dog: Blackness and the Animal Question

Racismo en la educación superior: un análisis desde la perspectiva de los pueblos indígenas y afrodescendientes en Colombia

Este artículo analiza cómo se manifiesta el racismo en la educación superior, desde la perspectiva de los alumnos y alumnas indígenas y afrodescendientes, para pensar el modo en que el racismo se reproduce y afecta las experiencias de vida y las trayectorias educativas de estos grupos. Poniendo el foco de análisis en la manera en que el Estado asumió la educación de estas poblaciones, desde el siglo xix hasta la Constitución de 1991, se argumentará que, si bien en los últimos años la discusión sobre la participación de los pueblos indígenas y afrodescendientes en la educación superior ha venido ganando notoriedad, su presencia en las Instituciones de Educación Superior es aún minoritaria y se ve fuertemente condicionada y afectada por el racismo presente tanto en estas instituciones como en la sociedad. Finalmente, se plantean algunos desafíos y conclusiones.

Un modelo de liderazgo y educación propia para el Buen Vivir y la Autonomía de los pueblos

Los pueblos indígenas y afrodescendientes en las luchas de reivindicación de derechos han desarrollado la capacidad de liderazgo, para impulsar y movilizar las acciones en función de las aspiraciones propias, que conduzcan a la vida en plenitud, Buen Vivir. Entorno a las conceptualizaciones de liderazgo, esta investigación plantea una estrecha relación entre liderazgo educativo y liderazgo comunitario, partiendo de la influencia que tienen los mismos para trazar los caminos del Buen Vivir de los pueblos indígenas y afrodescendientes desde los procesos de Autonomía y Educación. Se aborda el tema de liderazgo educativo, desde la experiencia del Sistema Educativo Autonómico Regional como modelo de Educación propia que surge de la colaboración conjunta; igualmente se describen los puntos de partida de las entidades de educación superior, liderazgos educativos de acción formativa en ideales filosóficos propios para el bien común y en convivencia armónica. En la última sección se puntualizan los desafíos que tienen las instituciones educativas para realizar liderazgo educativo en materia de educación intercultural.

Sistemas de pensamientos propios: Un aprendizaje desde la Universidad Comunitaria Intercultural

Los sistemas de pensamientos propios, de pueblos indígenas y afrodescendientes son vigentes en la actualidad, frecuentemente invisibilizados por la ausencia del rigor científico, aunque desde las propias formas de producirlos mantengan rigurosidad. Abordar el tema de construcción de conocimientos propios, resulta controvertido y polémico dentro del campo académico, no obstante, los planteamientos posteriores tienen la finalidad de establecer, conveniencia de transformar las sociedades del conocimiento en espacios más diversificados, abiertos e incluyentes, donde pueda coexistir y utilizarse lo científico como lo tradicional. Desde la experiencia de la universidad comunitaria intercultural se realizan planteamientos de construcción colectiva; de creación, recreación y prácticas de saberes y conocimientos, de los pueblos. A largo de toda la discusión se presentan reflexiones y replanteamientos para actuar en la Educación Superior, escenario de instauración de sociedades del conocimiento. Finalizando con afirmaciones y convicciones de que la educación superior intercultural debe ser para la conservación de las culturas; valoración de la diversidad; y legitimar los sistemas de pensamientos propios.

Experiencias de las familias creole en el rescate y revitalización de su identidad colectiva en contextos multiculturales

This article was based on the study entitled: families experiences in the rescue and revitalization of their collective identity in multicultural contexts, the dynamics of coexistence and predominant socialization in the Creole family that contribute to the strengthening of their identity have been analyzed. The methodology used was qualitative, cross-sectional, descriptive phenomenological aimed at the recognition of situations and behaviors through oral history to identify values, beliefs, norms and practices of the Afro-descendant people through interaction with the participants. It acquires relevance because identity gives it nourishment and a sense of belonging to a people. It is a construction that the members of the community carry out, based on the culture they possess. In addition to sharing their knowledge and practices, they also expressed their deep feelings about some cultural practices in the new generations, as well as the possibility of revitalizing them. The participants identified as the main weakening factor of the Creole identity the non-use of Creole as a mother tongue in the family, school and the church, mainly in children, adolescents and young people due to high migration of the Creole population, the reconfiguration of the neighborhood population and especially the non-implementation of the family model based on values.