Indigenous Rights as Tactics of Neoliberal Governance

Practices of Expertise in the United Nations

Bibliographic Data

ID12282909
AuthorsMarjo Lindroth (0000-0002-9523-0970, University of Lapland, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume23
Issue3
Pages341-360
Publication date2014-03-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial & Legal Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0964-6639 • E-ISSN: 1461-7390
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0964663914524265
OpenAlexW2042136352
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited60

Indigenous rights are being increasingly recognised globally. This article argues that this recognition does not reflect radically changed positions on the part of states and other actors but rather a development indicating the cost-effective operation of neoliberal governance. The biopolitical aspect of that governance regulates the life of indigenous populations as collectivities, with rights used tactically in this process. The material for this article consists of reports of the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples. The approach of governmentality is used to study how the rapporteur’s expert interpretations make indigenous peoples governable in particular ways, that is, through specific practices of power. The research identifies three such practices bearing on indigenous rights: indigenous peoples as exceptional – the necessity to intervene; indigenous rights – uncertain and calculated and indigenous peoples as claimants – the right to remedies. Expertise and legality function to depoliticise the language of indigenous rights, with states and other actors seemingly governing indigenous peoples less, yet, in recognising their rights, governing them more cost-effectively. These power effects go beyond the stated aims of safeguarding indigenous peoples and should be considered when indigenous rights are negotiated

Business · Corporate governance · Fundamental rights · Governmentality · Human rights · Indigenous · Indigenous rights · Political science · Politics · Principle of legality · Safeguarding · Sociology · Environmental law and policy · Human Rights and Development · Law · Medicine · Mining and Resource Management

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