Anthropology and Law in Latin America

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-85
Author(s):  
Rachel Sieder
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Political Anthropology ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Collective Rights

As a researcher working within the field of collaborative or ‘engaged’ legal and political anthropology in Latin America, law does very much shape my research agenda and that of most of my colleagues. I would also contend that anthropology does impact law throughout the region, although to a much lesser extent. This is most evident in the legalisation, judicialisation and juridification of indigenous peoples’ collective rights to autonomy and territory in recent decades. Yet, the influence of anthropology on legal adjudication in the region is not only limited to issues pertaining to indigenous peoples: engaged applied ethnographic research is playing an increasingly important role in revealing to legal practitioners and courts the effects of human rights violations in specific contexts, and victims’ perceptions of the continuums of violence to which they are subjected.

Introductory Aspects on Human Rights Violations Suffered by Indigenous Peoples during the Period of Brazilian Civil-Military Dictatorship

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luane Flores Chuquel
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Military Regime ◽  
Military Coup ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Military Government ◽  
Deductive Method ◽  
The Face ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
The Military

This current work studies the human rights violations suffered by indigenous peoples during the period of the Brazilian CivilMilitary Dictatorship. Likewise, it makes some notes about the beginning of the violations in a moment before this dark period. On this path, even before the Military Coup was launched in the year 1964 (one thousand nine hundred and sixty-four), the Indians were already experiencing constant usurpations of their rights at the expense of irresponsibilities commanded most of the time, by those who should watch over their rights lives. As will be seen, the violation and disrespect for Human Rights in the face of these peoples ended up becoming common and gaining strength mainly in the beginning of the implementation of the military regime. Negligent attempts at acculturation and "emancipation", in addition to inconsequential contacts with isolated peoples, culminated in the destruction and predatory logging of their lands. Missing processes of terribly violating demarcations of indigenous areas promoted the expulsion of countless peoples, causing the Indians to fall into a life totally surrounded by hunger, begging, alcoholism and prostitution. All in the name of the so-called “economic advance”, which aimed at building roads, in what was called “occupation of the Amazon”? As frequently stated by the authorities at the time, the Amazon rainforest was seen and understood as a “population void” by the Military Government. According to this thought idealized by the disgusting dictators and supporters, it will be observed that the cases of violations of Human Rights have been systematically “legalized”. The life, land and culture of indigenous peoples were left in the background. Depending on this brief narrative developed through documentary research, based on a hypothetical-deductive method, the intention is to rescue the martyrdoms of that time, demonstrating what actually happened to indigenous peoples during the Military Regime, in the simplest attempt to remember or even disclose to those who are unaware of this part of history. All that said, don't you forget. So that it never happens again.

scholarly journals Eichler, Jessika. 2019. Reconciling indigenous peoples’ individual and collective rights: participation, prior consultation and selfdetermination in Latin America. New York: Routledge. 196 p.

2021 ◽  
pp. 189-191
Author(s):  
Amelia Alva-Arévalo
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Collective Rights ◽  
Derechos Humanos ◽  
Las Mujeres

El libro de Eichler reflexiona profundamente sobre la relación entre los derechos colectivos de los pueblos indígenas y los derechos individuales de sus miembros, particularmente, de aquellos que conforman los sub-grupos minoritarios como son las mujeres, niños y ancianos, a quienes se les ha otorgado protección especial en el derecho internacional de los derechos humanos. Complementariamente a esta reflexión teórica, se presenta un estudio empírico de Bolivia, permitiendo a la autora a ofrecer un marco reconciliatorio de los derechos colectivos e individuales necesario para cambiar la perspectiva del ejercicio de los derechos de participación, consulta y auto determinación de los pueblos indígenas.

scholarly journals Avançou? Retrocedeu? Considerações sobre os direitos humanos e as ações afirmativas para os povos Indígenas na América Latina

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 160
Author(s):  
Juliane Sachser Angnes ◽  
Elisa Yoshie Ichikawa ◽  
Marcel Luciano Klozovski ◽  
Maria De Fátima Quintal de Freitas
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Labor Organization ◽  
International Labor Organization ◽  
International Labor ◽  
The Subject ◽  
America Latina

This theoretical essay proposes to understand how the contemporary conception of Human Rights is configured, and from that, to articulate the affirmative actions for Indigenous peoples inserted in this conception. In other words, it reflects on how this process took place in Latin America, that is, whether these actions proposed in Latin America for Indigenous peoples adopt a perspective constituted by the “subject of law” being seen in its particularity and peculiarity, and whether there have been advances or setbacks. The results showed that, specifically, from the conceptions presented at the International Labor Organization (OIT) there was a break in the integrationist paradigm, showing a real advance in the expressions of these conceptions and the ways in which indigenous societies are understood, at least in the applied legislation in Latin America. However, there is still much to reflect on and fight for.

Social environmental injustices against indigenous peoples: the Belo Monte dam

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 865-876
Author(s):  
Heidi Michalski Ribeiro ◽  
Jose Rubens Morato
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Hydroelectric Power Plant ◽  
Northern Region ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Hydroelectric Power ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Environmental ◽  
Belo Monte

PurposeThis proposal is a case study of the Belo Monte dam. The article deals with human rights and environmental violations arising from the construction of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Power Plant in the northern region of Brazil. This paper aims to evidence human rights violations brought by the construction Belo Monte dam, a glimpse of the COVID-19 scenario and how Brazilian regulation allowed those violations.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve the objective of this article, the Brazilian norms, public policies and the current situation of the affected communities were analyzed, focusing on the human rights violations and the historical timeline of this mega-project. The analysis was directed to the hardcore social sciences, considering analytical and qualitative research.FindingsThe data gathered and the references consulted proved that many human rights violations occurred and that the vulnerability of indigenous and local people increased with the construction of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Power Plant in the northern region of Brazil. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this adverse scenario since indigenous and local people already had their vulnerabilities increased with the construction of Belo Monte.Research limitations/implicationsThe Belo Monte Dam has had severe and irreversible impacts on the lives of local communities, especially indigenous peoples, as it had destroyed their culture and the environment. The authors were not able to do fieldwork, due to the great distance of the dam. In this sense, the research does not cover all the social–environmental issues, as an ethnographic approach is necessary.Originality/valueThe authors intend to bring attention to harms caused to indigenous people and the local communities, expecting to create an alert of what this kind of project can do to vulnerable peoples' life, especially now with the pandemic scenario, which makes indigenous and traditional communities more vulnerable to diseases due to the loss of their territories.

scholarly journals Marginacions d’ahir i d’avui: drets humans i discursos discriminatoris a la pel·lícula También la lluvia

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 115
Author(s):  
Valentina Ripa
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Las Casas ◽  
Bartolome De Las Casas ◽  
The Right ◽  
Modern Era

Resum: Al present article s’analitza la pel·lícula También la lluvia, una bona mostra de com també el cine «pel gran públic» pot contribuir, a través de les seves representacions, a conscienciar els espectadors; en aquest cas, sobre temes com el genocidi indígena a l’edat moderna, la històrica marginació dels pobles indígenes d’Amèrica Llatina i el dret a l’aigua que hom posa en discussió arreu del món. S’hi destaca, especialment, el racisme inherent als discursos de les elits que estan reproduïts a la pel·lícula i que són una bona mostra –dins del codi realista de También la lluvia– d’idees i d’un llenguatge prou difós. Paraules clau: Divulgació dels drets humans a través del cinema; anàlisi crític del discurs; pobles indígenes d’Amèrica Llatina; Bolívia entre els segles XX i XXI; Bartolomé de las Casas Abstract: The present article analyses the film También la lluvia, a good example of how cinema «for the general public» can also contribute, through its representations, to people’s awareness; in this case, on themes such as the indigenous genocide in the modern era, the historical marginalisation of the indigenous peoples of Latin America and the right to water that is questioned all over the word. Particularly noteworthy is the inherent racism of the discourses of the elites that are reproduced in the film and that are a good example –in the realistic code of También la lluvia– of rather widespread ideas and language. Keywords: Dissemination of human rights through the cinema; critical discourse analysis; indigenous peoples of Latin America; Bolivia in the 20th and 21st centuries; Bartolomé de las Casas

scholarly journals Ensuring food security of indigenous peoples in Latin America by the UN food and agricultural organization (FAO)

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 855-871
Author(s):  
Anita Z. Rakhman
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Right To Food ◽  
The World ◽  
The Right ◽  
Agricultural Organization

The activities of the United Nations in the 21st century, as in the earlier period, are undoubtedly devoted to protection and promotion of human rights. It promotes the realization of fundamental human rights through specialized agencies in various fields taking in account concerns and needs of vulnerable groups of population, in particular indigenous peoples. The World Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), in its turn, develops policies and implements strategies and programs to guarantee food security and the right to food to aboriginal people around the world, including in Latin America.

scholarly journals Wielding the human rights weapon against the American empire: the second Russell Tribunal and human rights in transatlantic relations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umberto Tulli
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Driving Force ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
American Empire ◽  
Documentary Sources ◽  
The Usa

AbstractThe article discusses the evolution from the 1966–1967 “first” Russell Tribunal, an unofficial and political gathering that censured the USA for its aggression in Vietnam, to the “second” Russell Tribunal, which took place in Rome and Brussels between 1974 and 1976 and put human rights violations in Latin America in the international spotlight. Both Tribunals shared a profound anti-Americanism and an explicit proximity to Third Worldism. Yet, there was also an important difference, since the language of human rights shaped only the “second” Tribunal. The article is mostly based on documentary sources held by the Fondazione Lelio and Lisli Basso in Rome. This choice is based on the importance Italian Senator Lelio Basso had for the Tribunal. Basso was the main organizer and the driving force of the Tribunal and coordinated many transnational groups in support of this event. Moreover, his intellectual reflections on decolonization as a revolutionary force and his fierce anti-Americanism offered a blueprint for the proceedings and the sentence of the Tribunal. Bringing together the recent literature on the emergence of human rights during the 1970s and that on European anti-Americanism, the article shows how some prominent European intellectuals and politicians appropriated human rights jargon to criticize American foreign policy and denounce its responsibilities for ongoing human rights violations in Latin America. In doing so, it argues that the human rights language renewed European anti-Americanism during the 1970s.

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