240059 SE BM9 Indigenous Peoples and International Processes - An Anthropologist’s Guide (2024S)

Indigenous peoples’ (IPs) have made significant gains in human and environmental rights – from the highest level human rights document designed to protect and promote indigenous peoples’ rights - the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Peoples adopted in 1993 - to the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB), recognized in 1996 as the formal body providing direct advice to governments in regards to their work on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) - to the influence of the International People’s Forum on Climate Change (IPFCC), the formal IP caucus established in 2008, collectively making their issues heard by government’s working on the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Throughout the globe IPs are working to bring these international level discourses and achievements down to the national and local levels.

As an applied anthropologist working directly with IPs in these fora, working directly for and with Indigenous Peoples, I will provide students with a solid overview, covering related key topics such as Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), and discussions around carbon offset programs, the Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation, the shifts in the funding landscape, and agency of Indigenous Peoples, and collaborations with supporters.

The course is designed to provide vital information which could prove helpful in understanding some of these complex issues (potentially) affecting the communities the students (may) work with and/or could serve as an engagement point if shared.

As an applied anthropologist, working for 3 decades on these topics, I intend to bring to life the current discourse, key actors and the diverse strategies employed by indigenous peoples, including civil society collaborations, participating in UN meetings, etc. Students will learn accessing key information, e.g. UN documents via databases. My goal is that students interested in working on environmental/climate change issues understand indigenous peoples’ unique and diverse roles, important for work in NGOs, international organizations, etc.

Another core component will be "allyship" and what it currently means to be a good ally - an issue that has changed and shifted with the growth of Indigenous Peoples own agency and self-representation.