Indigenous Knowledges and the Sustainable Development Agenda


Book Description

This book discusses the vital importance of including indigenous knowledges in the sustainable development agenda. In the wake of colonialism and imperialism, dialogue between indigenous knowledges and Western epistemology has broken down time and again. However, in recent decades the broader indigenous struggle for rights and recognition has led to a better understanding of indigenous knowledges, and in 2015 the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined the importance of indigenous engagement in contributing to the implementation of the agenda. Drawing on experiences and field work from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe, Indigenous Knowledges and the Sustainable Development Agenda brings together authors who explore social, educational, institutional and ecological sustainability in relation to indigenous knowledges. In doing so, this book provides a comprehensive understanding of the concept of "sustainability", at both national and international levels, from a range of diverse perspectives. As the decolonizing debate gathers pace within mainstream academic discourse, this book offers an important contribution to scholars across development studies, environmental studies, education, and political ecology.




Environmental Humanities in the New Himalayas


Book Description

Environmental Humanities in the New Himalayas: Symbiotic Indigeneity, Commoning, Sustainability showcases how the eco-geological creativity of the earth is integrally woven into the landforms, cultures, and cosmovisions of modern Himalayan communities. Unique in scope, this book features case studies from Bhutan, Assam, Sikkim, Tibet, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sino-Indian borderlands, many of which are documented by authors from indigenous Himalayan communities. It explores three environmental characteristics of modern Himalayas: the anthropogenic, the indigenous, and the animist. Focusing on the sentient relations of human-, animal-, and spirit-worlds with the earth in different parts of the Himalayas, the authors present the complex meanings of indigeneity, commoning and sustainability in the Anthropocene. In doing so, they show the vital role that indigenous stories and perspectives play in building new regional and planetary environmental ethics for a sustainable future. Drawing on a wide range of expert contributions from the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanist disciplines, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental humanities, religion and ecology, indigenous knowledge and sustainable development more broadly.




Political Economy of Development in India


Book Description

In the Global South, indigenous people have been continuously subjected to top-down, and often violent, processes of post-colonial state and nation building. This book examines the development dilemmas of the indigenous people (adivasis) of the Indian state of Kerala. It explores the different facets of change in their lives and livelihoods in the context of modernisation under different political regimes. As part of the Indian Union, Kerala followed a development approach in tune with the Government of India with regard to indigenous communities. However, within the framework of India’s quasi-federal polity, the state of Kerala has been tracing a development path of its own, which has come to be known as the ‘Kerala model of development’. Adopting a historical political economic approach, the book locates the adivasi communities in the larger contextual shifts from late colonialism through the post-independence years, and critically analyses the Kerala model of development with particular reference to the adivasis’ changing political status and rights to land. It pays special attention to policy dynamics in the neoliberal phase, and the actual practices of decentralisation as a way of including the socially excluded and marginalised. Offering a theoretical elaboration of the interaction between class and indigeneity based on intensive fieldwork in Kerala, the book addresses adivasi development in relation to the general development experience of Kerala, and goes on to relate this particular study to the global context of indigenous people’s struggles. It will be of interest to those working in the fields of South Asian Development, Political Economy and South Asian Politics.




Indigenous Cultures and Sustainable Development in Latin America


Book Description

This open access book outlines development theory and practice over time as well as critically interrogates the "cultural turn" in development policy in Latin American indigenous communities, specifically, in Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador, and Bolivia. It becomes apparent that culturally sustainable development is both a new and old idea, which is simultaneously traditional and modern, and that it is a necessary iteration in thinking on development. This new strain of thought could inform not only the work of development practitioners, graduate students, and theorists working in the Global South, but in the Global North as well. This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to a Creative Commons license permitting commercial use. All rights not granted by the work's license are retained by the author or authors.




Indigenous Wellbeing and Enterprise


Book Description

In this book, we explore the economic wellbeing of Indigenous peoples globally through case studies that provide practical examples of how Indigenous wellbeing is premised on sustainable self- determination that is in turn dependent on a community's evolving model for economic development, its cultural traditions, its relationship to its traditional territories and its particular spiritual practices. Adding to the richness, geographically these chapters cover North, Central and South America, Northern Europe, the Circumpolar Arctic, Southern Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania and a resulting diverse set of Indigenous peoples. The book addresses key issues related to economic, environmental, social and cultural value creation activities and provides numerous examples and case studies of Indigenous communities globally which have successfully used entrepreneurship in the pursuit of sustainable development and wellbeing. Readers will gain practical understandings of the nature of sustainable economic development from a cross- section of case studies of Indigenous perspectives globally. The chapters map out the international development of Indigenous rights and the influence that this has had on Indigenous communities globally in asserting their sovereignty and acting on their rights to develop sustainable governance and economic development practices. Readers will develop insights into the intersection of Indigenous governance with sustainable practice and community wellbeing through practical case studies that explain the need for Indigenous- led economic development and governance strategies, which are responsive to local, regional, national and international realities in developing sustainable Indigenous economies focused on economic, environmental, social and cultural value creation. This book will be useful for Indigenous and non- Indigenous business students studying undergraduate business or MBA programs who seek to understand the global context and the varied experiences of Indigenous peoples in developing sustainable economic development strategies that promote community wellbeing.




Indigeneity: A Politics of Potential


Book Description

This book presents the first comprehensive use of political theory to explain indigenous politics, assessing the ways in which indigenous and liberal political theories interact in order to consider the practical policy implications of the indigenous right to self-determination. Dominic O'Sullivan here reveals indigeneity's concern for political relationships, agendas, and ideas beyond ethnic minorities' basic claim to liberal recognition, and he draws out the ways that indigeneity's local geopolitical focus, underpinned by global developments in law and political theory, can make it a movement of forward-looking, transformational politics.




The Cambridge Handbook of Environmental Justice and Sustainable Development


Book Description

Despite the global endorsement of the Sustainable Development Goals, environmental justice struggles are growing all over the world. These struggles are not isolated injustices, but symptoms of interlocking forms of oppression that privilege the few while inflicting misery on the many and threatening ecological collapse. This handbook offers critical perspectives on the multi-dimensional, intersectional nature of environmental injustice and the cross-cutting forms of oppression that unite and divide these struggles, including gender, race, poverty, and indigeneity. The work sheds new light on the often-neglected social dimension of sustainability and its relationship to human rights and environmental justice. Using a variety of legal frameworks and case studies from around the world, this volume illustrates the importance of overcoming the fragmentation of these legal frameworks and social movements in order to develop holistic solutions that promote justice and protect the planet's ecosystems at a time of intensifying economic and ecological crisis.




Inclusivity and Indigeneity in Education for Sustainable Development


Book Description

A major issue globally revolves around the urgent need to reshape our education system, aligning it with the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set to transform the world by 2030. These goals, comprising 17 distinct objectives and 169 targets, form an ambitious agenda that seeks to recalibrate the global landscape across social, economic, and environmental dimensions. Inclusivity and Indigeneity in Education for Sustainable Development stands as a catalyst for fostering dialogue on the interconnected realms of education, indigeneity, and sustainable development. It explores the relationships between these pillars and offers a comprehensive understanding of their transformative potential. The book emphasizes the essence of inclusivity, echoing the 'No one left behind' SDG agenda, which goes beyond mere academic discourse to foster fairness and justice. Additionally, it delves into the invaluable resource of indigenous knowledge, transmitted orally across generations, and its profound connection to sustainable development. By advocating for a shift in education, the book calls for an approach that ensures no one is left behind in the teaching and learning process. This paradigm shift is envisioned as a broad civilizational project, connecting with marginalized communities and tapping into their distinct cultural resources for crafting resilient and sustainable strategies.




Media, Indigeneity and Nation in South Asia


Book Description

How do videos, movies and documentaries dedicated to indigenous communities transform the media landscape of South Asia? Based on extensive original research, this book examines how in South Asia popular music videos, activist political clips, movies and documentaries about, by and for indigenous communities take on radically new significances. Media, Indigeneity and Nation in South Asia shows how in the portrayal of indigenous groups by both ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’ imaginations of indigeneity and nation become increasingly interlinked. Indigenous groups, typically marginal to the nation, are at the same time part of mainstream polities and cultures. Drawing on perspectives from media studies and visual anthropology, this book compares and contrasts the situation in South Asia with indigeneity globally. Chapter 1 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives (CC-BY-ND) 4.0 license.