Indigenous Politics in Comparative Perspective

Indigenous politics is quickly becoming an important research topic in political science around the world. Legal and political developments in the international arena, notably the adoption of the United Nation’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as ongoing Indigenous mobilizations in the Americas, in Europe and elsewhere have forced mainstream political scientists to pay attention. Though there are great distances in both culture and geography between the peoples called ‘indigenous’, the situations and historical experiences of these groups are reasonably similar in many aspects. The main issues at stake, from political autonomy to the legacy and ongoing consequences of colonialism and natural resource guardianship, are also very similar across continents. The first objective of the series of panels is to provide a more systematic comparative outlook on Indigenous politics across continents. What can we learn from developments around the world regarding Indigenous mobilizations or Court’s interpretation of Indigenous rights, for example? Are there key areas of convergence and divergence in Indigenous politics? Our second objective is to foster an intercontinental dialogue on key research agendas, theoretical approaches and perspectives in the emerging field of Indigenous politics. Is there a coherent set of issues, concepts and theoretical debates that unite the field? Is there a possible dialogue between approaches generally associated with Indigenous studies and mainstream political science? How do we approach the challenge of decolonizing research on/with/for Indigenous peoples within mainstream political science? This section builds on the themes and debates emerging from a 2011 ECPR Joint Sessions workshop and forthcoming ECPR press volume on Indigenous politics. We want to take advantage of the first ever ECPR general conference to be held outside of Europe to foster a dialogue between European specialists of Indigenous politics and their colleagues elsewhere. The location of the conference, in Montreal, Canada, is an ideal setting for this type of cross-cultural and cross-continental exchange on Indigenous politics. The section is organized along seven thematic panels: 1- Comparative Developments in Indigenous Rights and the Role of the Judiciary 2- Comparative Perspectives on Indigenous Peoples' Self-Determination: Strategies and Discourses 3- Comparative Perspectives on Indigenous Peoples' Self-Determination: Institutional Models and Political Challenges 4- Reconciliation and Intercultural Dialogue, from Theory to Practice 5- Sami Parliaments: Instruments of Self-Determination? 6- The Politics of Indigenous Peoples' Participation in Resource Development 7- The Politics of Indigenous Peoples’ Participation in Representative Democracy and the Policy Process