Indigenous Movements, Self-Representation, and the State in Latin America

Indigenous Movements, Self-Representation, and the State in Latin America PDF Author: Kay B. Warren
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292786743
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
Throughout Latin America, indigenous peoples are responding to state violence and pro-democracy social movements by asserting their rights to a greater measure of cultural autonomy and self-determination. This volume's rich case studies of movements in Colombia, Guatemala, and Brazil weigh the degree of success achieved by indigenous leaders in influencing national agendas when governments display highly ambivalent attitudes about strengthening ethnic diversity. The contributors to this volume are leading anthropologists and indigenous activists from the United States and Latin America. They address the double binds of indigenous organizing and "working within the system" as well as the flexibility of political tactics used to achieve cultural goals outside the scope of state politics. The contributors answer questions about who speaks for indigenous communities, how indigenous movements relate to the popular left, and how conflicts between the national indigenous leadership and local communities play out in specific cultural and political contexts. The volume sheds new light on the realities of asymmetrical power relations and on the ways in which indigenous communities and their representatives employ Western constructions of subjectivity, alterity, and authentic versus counterfeit identity, as well as how they manipulate bureaucratic structures, international organizations, and the mass media to advance goals that involve distinctive visions of an indigenous future.

Indigenous Movements, Self-Representation, and the State in Latin America

Indigenous Movements, Self-Representation, and the State in Latin America PDF Author: Kay B. Warren
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292786743
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Get Book

Book Description
Throughout Latin America, indigenous peoples are responding to state violence and pro-democracy social movements by asserting their rights to a greater measure of cultural autonomy and self-determination. This volume's rich case studies of movements in Colombia, Guatemala, and Brazil weigh the degree of success achieved by indigenous leaders in influencing national agendas when governments display highly ambivalent attitudes about strengthening ethnic diversity. The contributors to this volume are leading anthropologists and indigenous activists from the United States and Latin America. They address the double binds of indigenous organizing and "working within the system" as well as the flexibility of political tactics used to achieve cultural goals outside the scope of state politics. The contributors answer questions about who speaks for indigenous communities, how indigenous movements relate to the popular left, and how conflicts between the national indigenous leadership and local communities play out in specific cultural and political contexts. The volume sheds new light on the realities of asymmetrical power relations and on the ways in which indigenous communities and their representatives employ Western constructions of subjectivity, alterity, and authentic versus counterfeit identity, as well as how they manipulate bureaucratic structures, international organizations, and the mass media to advance goals that involve distinctive visions of an indigenous future.

Indigenous Movements and Their Critics

Indigenous Movements and Their Critics PDF Author: Kay B. Warren
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691225303
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
In this first book-length treatment of Maya intellectuals in national and community affairs in Guatemala, Kay Warren presents an ethnographic account of Pan-Maya cultural activism through the voices, writings, and actions of its participants. Challenging the belief that indigenous movements emerge as isolated, politically unified fronts, she shows that Pan-Mayanism reflects diverse local, national, and international influences. She explores the movement's attempts to interweave these varied strands into political programs to promote human and cultural rights for Guatemala's indigenous majority and also examines the movement's many domestic and foreign critics. The book focuses on the years of Guatemala's peace process (1987--1996). After the previous ten years of national war and state repression, the Maya movement reemerged into public view to press for institutional reform in the schools and courts and for the officialization of a "multicultural, ethnically plural, and multilingual" national culture. In particular, Warren examines a group of well-known Mayanist antiracism activists--among them, Demetrio Cojt!, Mart!n Chacach, Enrique Sam Colop, Victor Montejo, members of Oxlajuuj Keej Maya' Ajtz'iib', and grassroots intellectuals in the community of San Andr s--to show what is at stake for them personally and how they have worked to promote the revitalization of Maya language and culture. Pan-Mayanism's critics question its tactics, see it as threatening their own achievements, or even as dangerously polarizing national society. This book highlights the crucial role that Mayanist intellectuals have come to play in charting paths to multicultural democracy in Guatemala and in creating a new parallel middle class.

Cutting Through State and Class Sources and Strategies of Self-representation in Latin America

Cutting Through State and Class Sources and Strategies of Self-representation in Latin America PDF Author: Alcida Rita Ramos
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Indians
Languages : en
Pages : 30

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Book Description


People's Lives

People's Lives PDF Author: Bill Wright
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Photography
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description
"People's Lives records a photographic journey in celebration of the human spirit. In sixty-nine duotone images taken around the world, Bill Wright captures what is best in people - our joy, love, hope, and humor, as well as our ability to thrive even in the toughest circumstances. Many of the photographs are accompanied by extended captions in which Wright describes the encounters that produced them. In the preface, he also discusses the development of his photographic career and artistic philosophy and his methods of working. Sam Abell, the noted National Geographic magazine photographer, offers a perceptive assessment and appreciation of Wright's work in the introduction." "For thirty-five years, Bill Wright combined photography with a successful business career in west Texas. Since 1990, he has been a full-time photographer and writer, whose work has appeared in numerous exhibitions and in the books Portraits from the Desert: Bill Wright's Big Bend, The Texas Kickapoo: Keepers of Tradition, and The Tiguas: Pueblo Indians of Texas. His photographic journeys have taken him to over sixty countries, and his award-winning photography is included in both domestic and international collections, including the Museum of New Mexico, the Amon Garter Museum, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the National Museum of American Art, and the British Library."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The Struggle for Indigenous Rights in Latin America

The Struggle for Indigenous Rights in Latin America PDF Author: Nancy Grey Postero
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
The "Indian question" has come to the forefront of political agendas in contemporary Latin America. In the process, indigenous movements have emerged as important social actors, raising a variety of demands on behalf of native peoples. Regardless of the situation of Indian groups as small minorities or significant sectors, many Latin American states have been forced to consider whether they should have the same status of all citizens or whether they should be granted special citizenship rights as Indians. This book examines the struggle for indigenous rights in eight Latin American countries. Initial studies of indigenous movements celebrated the return of the Indians as relevant political actors, often approaching their struggles as expressions of a common, generic agenda. This collection moves the debate forward by acknowledging the extraordinary diversity among the movements' composition, goals, and strategies. By focusing on the factors that shape this diversity, the authors offer a basis for understanding the specificities of converging and diverging patterns across different countries. The case studies examine the ways in which the Indian question arises in each country, with reference to the protagonism of indigenous movements in the context of the threats and opportunities posed by neo-liberal policies. The complexities posed by the varying demographic weight of indigenous populations, the interrelation of class and ethnicity, and the interplay between indigenous and popular struggles are discussed. The volume concludes that the Indian struggles are having a direct impact on the character of democracy, and in the process contribute to the redefinition of Latin American societies as multicultural.

Contemporary Indigenous Movements in Latin America

Contemporary Indigenous Movements in Latin America PDF Author: Erick Detlef Langer
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0842026797
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
The efforts of Indians in Latin America have gained momentum and garnered increasing attention in the last decade as they claim rights to their land and demand full participation in the political process. This issue is of rising importance as ecological concerns and autochtonous movements gain a foothold in Latin America, transforming the political landscape into one in which multiethnic democracies hold sway. In some cases, these movements have led to violent outbursts that severely affected some nations, such as the 1992 and 1994 Indian uprisings in Ecuador. In most cases, however, grassroots efforts have realized success without bloodshed. An Aymara Indian, head of an indigenous-rights political party, became Vice President of Bolivia. Brazilian lands are being set aside for indigenous groups not as traditional reservations where the government attempts to 'civilize' the hunters and gatherers, but where the government serves only to keep loggers, gold miners, and other interlopers out of tribal lands. Contemporary Indigenous Movements in Latin America is a collection of essays compiled by Professor Erick D. Langer that brings together-for the first time-contributions on indigenous movements throughout Latin America from all regions. Focusing on the 1990s, Professor Langer illustrates the range and increasing significance of the Indian movements in Latin America. The volume addresses the ways in which Indians have confronted the political, social, and economic problems they face today, and shows the diversity of the movements, both in lowlands and in highlands, tribal peoples, and peasants. The book presents an analytical overview of these movements, as well as a vision of how and why they have become so important in the late twentieth century. Contemporary Indigenous Movements in Latin America is important for those interested in Latin American studies, including Latin American civilization, Latin American anthropology, contemporary issues in Latin America, and ethnic studies.

Indigenous Political Representation in Latin America

Indigenous Political Representation in Latin America PDF Author: Adrian Albala
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031339142
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 261

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Book Description
This book presents a comparative analysis of the struggles of Latin American indigenous peoples for effective representation in national political systems in the region. Through a detailed exploration of the political dynamics of indigenous groups and examples of mechanisms of political representation, the studies in this book reveal how power relations, cleavages and indigenous civil society organizations are essential to our understanding of indigenous political participation. These studies closely inspect how collective action builds up at local level in grassroots organizations, and how it then articulates or not with larger mechanisms of regional and national political representation, providing a more comprehensive and comparative assessment of why and when representation works and fails for indigenous people. This contributed volume is organized around one general and comparative chapter on indigenous political representation in Latin America followed by eight case studies, divided into three main groups. The first group includes cases with a more inclusive political environment, such as Bolivia, Ecuador and Guatemala. The second group brings together cases with certain representation and/or active indigenous elites: Colombia, Mexico, and Paraguay. Tthe third group presents outlier cases with potential indigenous issues: Peru and Chile. Finally, the last chapter brings together reflections on how mechanisms for effective political representation can be improved and how indigenous organizations can be fostered to ensure effective political representation. Indigenous Political Representation in Latin America will be of interest to political scientists, sociologists and anthropologists studying both indigenous collective action and political representation by presenting a discussion on how to structure representation mechanisms capable of politically integrate the ethnic diversity of Latin American countries in order to build a multicultural citizenship. It will also help policy makers and activists by discussing the successes and failures of effective indigenous political representation in Latin America.

Contesting Citizenship in Latin America

Contesting Citizenship in Latin America PDF Author: Deborah J. Yashar
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9781139443807
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
Indigenous people in Latin America have mobilized in unprecedented ways - demanding recognition, equal protection, and subnational autonomy. These are remarkable developments in a region where ethnic cleavages were once universally described as weak. Recently, however, indigenous activists and elected officials have increasingly shaped national political deliberations. Deborah Yashar explains the contemporary and uneven emergence of Latin American indigenous movements - addressing both why indigenous identities have become politically salient in the contemporary period and why they have translated into significant political organizations in some places and not others. She argues that ethnic politics can best be explained through a comparative historical approach that analyzes three factors: changing citizenship regimes, social networks, and political associational space. Her argument provides insight into the fragility and unevenness of Latin America's third wave democracies and has broader implications for the ways in which we theorize the relationship between citizenship, states, identity, and social action.

Indigenous Peoples In Latin America

Indigenous Peoples In Latin America PDF Author: Hector Diaz Polanco
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429968418
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 177

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Book Description
This book deals with the perennial tensions between ethnic groups and the modern nation-state and does so from the perspective of a leading Mexican anthropologist with deep and long experience in these matters. As such, it is both a superb introduction to the basic issues and a presentation of the author's own original contributions. The appearance of this book in English gives North American readers access to these important and political currents in Latin American anthropology and political economy. It is required reading for anyone wishing to understand the current recrudescence of indigenous peoples at this moment in history?when conventional wisdom had predicted its demise.

Indigenous Women’s Movements in Latin America

Indigenous Women’s Movements in Latin America PDF Author: Stéphanie Rousseau
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1349950637
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
This book presents a comparative analysis of the organizing trajectories of indigenous women’s movements in Peru, Mexico, and Bolivia. The authors’ innovative research reveals how the articulation of gender and ethnicity is central to shape indigenous women’s discourses. It explores the political contexts and internal dynamics of indigenous movements, to show that they created different opportunities for women to organize and voice specific demands. This, in turn, led to various forms of organizational autonomy for women involved in indigenous movements. The trajectories vary from the creation of autonomous spaces within mixed-gender organizations to the creation of independent organizations. Another pattern is that of women’s organizations maintaining an affiliation to a male-dominated mixed-gender organization, or what the authors call “gender parallelism”. This book illustrates how, in the last two decades, indigenous women have challenged various forms of exclusion through different strategies, transforming indigenous movements’ organizations and collective identities.