Governing Indigenous Territories: Enacting Sovereignty in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Governing Indigenous Territories illuminates a paradox of modern indigenous lives. In recent decades, native peoples from Alaska to Cameroon have sought and gained legal title to significant areas of land, not as individuals or families but as large, collective organizations. Obtaining these collective titles represents an enormous accomplishment; it also creates dramatic changes. Once an indigenous territory is legally established, other governments and organizations expect it to act as a unified political entity, making decisions on behalf of its population and managing those living within its borders. A territorial government must mediate between outsiders and a not-always-united population within a context of constantly shifting global development priorities. The people of Rukullakta, a large indigenous territory in Ecuador, have struggled to enact sovereignty since the late 1960s. Drawing broadly applicable lessons from their experiences of self-rule, Juliet S. Erazo shows how collective titling produces new expectations, obligations, and subjectivities within indigenous territories.

Author: Juliet S. Erazo
Publisher: Duke University Press
Published: 07/18/2013
Pages: 264
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.00w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780822354543

Review Citation(s):
Choice 01/01/2014

About the Author

Juliet S. Erazo is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Florida International University.