Peoples of the Earth Ethnonationalism, Democracy, and the Indigenous Challenge in 'Latin' America

by Andersen, Martin Edwin; Pastor, Robert A.

• ISBN13: 9780739143919
• ISBN10: 0739143913
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-02-15
• Publisher: Lexington Books

Summary

Peoples of the Earth employs a comparative history of ethnonationalism to examine Indian activism and its challenges to the political, social, and economic status quo in the countries of Central and South America. It explores the interest between problems of democratic empowerment and security arising from the reemergence of dormant forms of ethnic militancy and unprecedented internal challenges to nation-states. This work challenges policymakers to broaden the debate on issues of political and economic empowerment and regional security concerning Native peoples, to include consideration of new protections for both land right and the environment. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Martin Edwin Andersen, a former special correspondent for Newsweek and the Washington Post in Latin America, is the author of two critically acclaimed books on Argentine history. The vice president of the Midwest Association for Latin American Studies (MALAS), in 2009 he served as a lead consultant to the Organization of American States on indigenous peoples in the Western Hemisphere.

Table of Contents

Tables And Figures	p. vii
Foreword: The Last Frontier Of De-Colonization in the Americas: Indigenous Peoples	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xvii
Introduction	p. 1
The "Miner's Canary" of Democracy	p. 21
Elite Neglect and "Rediscovery"	p. 37
Is Democracy a Zero-Sum Game?	p. 47
Imagined Communities: Marxism and the Indian Nation-State	p. 53
Indian Lands, "Ungoverned Spaces," and Failing States	p. 65
Bolivia: Unraveling A Present Past	p. 93
Perú: The Emergence of the Unbowed "Other"	p. 115
Ecuador: A Populist Test of Plurinationalism	p. 131
Guatemala: Many Nations Within a Single Nation-State	p. 139
Chile: Contesting The Lands of the "People of the Earth"	p. 145
Colombia: Special Rights Within a Context of Lawlessness	p. 157
Toward a New American Identity	p. 165
Conclusions	p. 193
Appendices: U.S. State Department Annual Human Rights Country Reports 2008	p. 199
Notes	p. 209
Bibliography	p. 247
Index	p. 277
About The Author	p. 295
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