From Tribal Village to Global Village

by Brysk, Alison

• ISBN13: 9780804734592
• ISBN10: 0804734593
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-03-01
• Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr

Summary

In Ecuador, every year since 1990 Indian protestors have brought the country to a standstill; in Mexico, Zapatista indigenous guerillas rose up in arms to protest North American free trade. In Brazil, shamans faced down bulldozers to block World Bank dams, while in Bolivia, peasants attacked U.S. troops for the right to grow coca. These are a few examples of the rise of a transnational human rights movement among the hemisphere's most isolated and powerless people, Latin American Indians. This book tells the story of the unexpected impact of the Indian rights movement on world politics, from reforming the United Nations to evicting oil companies. Using a constructivist theoretical approach that synthesizes international relations, social movement theory, ethnic politics, and work on democratic transitions, the author argues that marginalized people have responded to globalization with new, internationalized forms of identity politics that reconstruct power relations. Based on case studies from Ecuador, Mexico, Brazil, Nicaragua, and Bolivia, this book analyzes the implications of these human rights experiences for all of Latin America's 40 million indigenous citizens, and the 300 million native people throughout the world. The thematic organization of the book allows the author to trace distinctive dynamics of interstate relations, global markets, and transnational civil society. The book concludes with an analysis of the movement's impact and policy recommendations.

Author Biography

Alison Brysk is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Irvine. She is the author of The Politics of Human Rights in Argentina (Stanford, 1994).

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acronyms and Organizations	xvii
Introduction: When Worlds Collide	1	(28)
Theory: On Power, Borders, and Meaning	29	(26)
Voice in the Village: Building a Social Movement	55	(51)
State Security: Power Versus Principle	106	(39)
``Indian Market'': Profit Versus Purpose	145	(43)
Identities Across Borders: The Politics of Global Civil Society	188	(58)
New Times: The Impact of the Movement	246	(37)
Conclusion: It Takes a Village	283	(22)
References	305	(30)
Index	335