Indigenous Peoples in Southeast Asia and Pacific Islands. New laws and discourses. New realities?

18/05/2010 - 09:00

18 – 19 May 2010

Leiden, the Netherlands

Joint workshop organised by Center for Asia-Pacific Area Studies (CAPAS), Academica Sinica, Taipei and International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), Leiden

IMPORTANT PROGRAMME CHANGE:
Due to airspace restrictions as a result of the cloud of volcanic ash in the Dutch airspace not all presenters will be able to come to the Netherlands. The programme has therefore been adjusted. Please click here for the new programme.

Convenors:
Dr. Cheng-Yi Lin, CAPAS
Prof. Gerard Persoon, IIAS Extraordinary Chair, Institute of Cultural Anthropology, Leiden University

Venue:
Gravensteen (room 111), Pieterskerkhof 6, Leiden

Indigenous peoples in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands have occupied a remarkable position within the global discourse on the rights of indigenous peoples. It is clear that some indigenous peoples have had a history of settlement and colonization comparable with those of North and Latin America and Australia. Other ethnic groups may have arrived at the same time with groups that became dominant, or mainstream populations, but the former have in the course of history become marginalized and for that reason employ the label of indigenousness.

In some countries the indigenous peoples have occupied a relatively weak position: governments in countries like Indonesia and Vietnam simply refused to discuss the position of some of these groups in terms of the indigenous peoples’ discourse. They preferred terms like cultural minorities, tribal communities or upland tribes. Other countries like the Philippines and recently also Taiwan have accepted the indigenous peoples’ discourse domestically and adopted laws granting indigenous peoples territorial and other rights. Often this was done in order to undo historical injustice but targets like improved environmental management at the local level also motivated recognition of such rights.

Remarkably within this context is the fact that all Southeast Asian and Pacific countries have voted in favor of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in September 2007. At the moment some hesitant countries, like Indonesia, are reconsidering their position with respect to the prevailing policies of indigenous peoples and might actually adopt legislation on the recognition on indigenous rights. At the same time it is clear that adoption of official laws or international conventions does not automatically lead to new realities on the ground. Ten years after the official adoption of the Indigenous Peoples Rights’ Act in the Philippines some people have expressed their disappointment in the results brought about by the law. There is a sense of irony in the evaluation of the outcomes of this law. At the same time critical voices about the limitations of undoing historical injustice by this type of legislation became stronger as it might also lead to new forms of injustice. Outright misuse of the law by people for whom the law was not intended adds to this feeling of uneasiness.

Often the discourses and laws are based on assumptions with respect to the life of indigenous peoples which do not reflect present day realities. For instance, while discussions mostly focus on rural indigenous populations, in some countries more than fifty percent of the indigenous people actually live in cities. There is a high degree of internal variation with respect to the life style of indigenous peoples who might also fundamentally disagree among themselves on the direction which development processes should take.

Aims of the workshop 

The aims of the workshop are:

• to discuss the present position of indigenous peoples in Southeast Asian countries and the Pacific Islands from a legal and social perspective
• to review the impact of recent national and international laws and conventions on the every-day realities of indigenous peoples
• to present a number of case studies of with an emphasis on present-day life of indigenous communities
• to discuss the region’s indigenous peoples’ movement from a sociological perspective (ideological directions, internal cohesion, representation).  

There is no registration fee.

For further information and registration:
Ms Martina van den Haak, m.c.van.den.haak@iias.nl or +31 71 5273317