About the book
The term 'Indigenous Peoples' is perhaps one of the most controversial terms in contemporary international human rights law and policy in the context of national, regional and international conceptions of the term. Indeed, indigenous peoples vary in terms of their size, culture, challenges and locations across the globe. There are a number of academic debates on whether the term 'Indigenous Peoples' has any anthropological and legal significance. In order to settle these debates, the United Nations and a number of regional organisations have adopted certain criteria for the identification of indigenous peoples. However, these attempts do not appear to have resolved the problem of distinguishing 'indigenous peoples' from other groups of people in the society. There is now a plethora of groups that have chosen to attach the expression 'indigenous people' in identifying and describing their struggle for independence and self-determination against dominant groups and institutions such as the state. The main objective of this book will aim to re-visit the debates on the definition of 'indigenous peoples' in the context of the contemporary world, in order to determine whether indigenous populations can be clearly distinguished from other populations. To achieve this objective, there will be a critical discussion on the right to self-determination of indigenous peoples across the globe and how this quest for self-determination contributes to the controversies of distinguishing indigenous populations from other populations.
