How does the regulatory institutional setting impinge on the effectiveness of group rights? On the nexus between instruments of environmental governance and indigenous rights in Latin America

• In Event: Human Rights, Governance and Indigenous Peoples

Abstract

The introduction of group rights for indigenous peoples in Latin America (e.g. territorial autonomy and consultation rights) triggered a vibrant discussion about their contribution for improving indigenous self-determination. The paper builds on this debate and seeks to deepen our knowledge about the interplay between the broader institutional setting and the effectiveness of indigenous rights: How do instruments of environmental governance limit or support the effectiveness of group rights towards improved indigenous self-determination? The way the new indigenous rights are embedded into such „difference blind“ (Young 1990) regulatory frameworks varies greatly between the countries that have started to implement legal multiculturalism. However, research has not yet focused systematically on the effects of this variance. To fill this research gap, the paper develops a typology for scrutinizing the effectiveness of territorial autonomy as well as consultations rights in the field of natural resource management on indigenous land. It examines one central instrument of environmental governance, in particular, from a comparative perspective, namely, how regulations of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) do recognize the decision-making competency of indigenous authorities. It is proposed to look more deeply at the following dimensions: How do instruments of environmental licensing give indigenous peoples access and offer meaningful opportunities for them for bargaining with (national) decision-makers? Empirically, the paper focusses on both, rather most-likely cases for indigenous self-determination, such as Colombia (consultations) and Panama (autonomy), as well as Chile as a least-likely case (without such group rights) to show the relevancy of the broader environmental regulatory system.

Author

• Marie-Sophie Heinelt, University of Hagen