Indigenous People and Development in Latin America: a Literature Survey and Recommendations
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 453 995 RC 023 014 AUTHOR Roper, J. Montgomery; Frechione, John; DeWalt, Billie R. TITLE Indigenous People and Development in Latin America: A Literature Survey and Recommendations. Latin American Monograph & Document Series 12. INSTITUTION Pittsburgh Univ., PA. Center for Latin American Studies.; World Bank, Washington, DC. PUB DATE 1997-00-00 NOTE 205p. AVAILABLE FROM Center for Latin American Studies, 4E04 Forbes Quadrangle, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15260. Tel: 412-648-2199; Web site: http://www.pitt.edu/-clas/. PUB TYPE Information Analyses (070) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC09 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS American Indians; Civil Liberties; Cultural Awareness; Cultural Maintenance; *Economic Development; Educational Needs; Foreign Countries; *Indigenous Populations; *Participative Decision Making; *Self Determination; Technical Assistance IDENTIFIERS Community Empowerment; *Latin America ABSTRACT This report presents findings and conclusions gleaned from a review of 42 cases of indigenous development in Latin America. Findings indicate that the lack of a legal framework for indigenous rights presents a basic obstacle to indigenous self-development; the most common aspect of successful indigenous development was involvement of indigenous peoples in the development and management of initiatives; and the way in which outside financial and technical assistance was provided was more important to project success than the availability of such assistance. Project failure was related to human rights problems, problems with the security of land and natural resources, lack of community involvement, and marketing problems. Project success was related to the level of necessary skills and knowledge, use of indigenous knowledge, cultural relevance, and successful marketing strategies. Recommendations for successful indigenous self-development focus on basic human rights; maintenance of food security; guarantees for property rights to land, water, and other natural resources; community involvement; maintenance of group solidarity, self-esteem, and cultural pride through bilingual education and literacy training; use of existing indigenous organizing principles; nonexploitative arrangements, appropriate economies of scale, and diversified production; appropriate types of financial assistance and technical assistance; and state support of indigenous self-development. Appendices present case matrices, a coding form, and a Venezuelan case study. (Contains 116 references.) (TD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Indigenous People and Development in Latin America A LITERATURE SURVEY AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF EDUCATION U.S. DEPARTMENTResearch and Improvement 011 ice of Educational RESOURCES INFORMATION ED CATIONAL CENTER (ERIC) "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS been reproduced as J. Montgomery Roper This document has MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY received from the personor organization originating it. John Frechione have been made to 0 Minor changes Joh improve reproductionquality. Billie R. DeWalt stated in this Points of view or opinions document do notnecessarily represent policy. official OERI position or TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." ) A JOINT PUBLICATION OF THE CENTER FOR LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AND THE WORLD BANK LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN REGION ENVIRONMENTALLY AND SOCIALLY SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SECTOR MANAGEMENT UNIT riit n Latin American Monograph & Document Series 12 1997 40 BEST COPY AVAILABLE Indigenous People and Development in Latin America A LITERATURE SURVEY AND RECOMMENDATIONS J. Montgomery Roper John Frechione Billie R. De Walt A JOINT PUBLICATION OF THE CENTER FOR LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AND THE WORLD BANK LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN REGION ENVIRONMENTALLY AND SOCIALLY SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SECTOR MANAGEMENT UNIT XIV t n Latin American Monograph & Document Series 12 1997 3 Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank Dr. Jorge Uquillas of the World Bank for the opportunity to undertake this research on a particularly crucial issue for those concerned with development in Latin America and to present our findings at The World Bank on 16 September 1996. We also would like to thank Drs. William Partridge and Daniel Gross of the World Bank and Dr. Jonathan Fox (Associate Professor of Social Sciences, Latin American and Latino Studies Program, University of California, Santa Cruz) for their comments on an earlier draft of the report. The map on page v was prepared by J. Greg Smith, a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh. 4 Copyright © 1997 Center for Latin American Studies University Center for International Studies University of Pittsbugh All Rights Reserved Center for Latin American Studies 4E04 Forbes Quadrangle University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 15260 USA 5 Contents Summary Map: Indigenous Development Case Locations I. Introduction 1 A. Background 1 B. Theoretical Considerations 3 C. Methodology 6 II. Analysis 15 A. The Legal Framework: Human Rights, Individual Security, And Land 18 1. Human Rights and Individual Security 19 a. Physical Security 19 b. Health Security 20 c. Food Security 21 d. Monitoring Development 22 2. Land and Natural Resource Security 22 a. Communal Territory 23 b. Government Resource Concessions 25 c. Land Disputes 26 d. Resource Sustainability 26 3. Summary: The Legal Framework 26 B. Participation, Empowerment, and Self-Determination 27 1. Project Control and Self-Determination 27 2. Cultural Revaluation: Tradition and Change 30 3. Sociopolitical Organizations: Management, Representation, and Empowerment35 a. Organization at the Household or Kinship Level 36 b. Community Level Organization 37 c. Macro-level Organizations 39 d. Organizational Self-Determination 42 4. Economic Empowerment 42 a. Freedom from Middlemen 43 b. Market Involvement 44 c. Reinvestment and Diversification 45 5. Summary: Participation, Empowerment, and Self-Determination 46 C. Development Support 47 1. Financial and Technical Assistance 47 a. Financial Support 48 b. Training and Technical Support 49 c. Support Providers 52 2. The Role of the State 57 3. Summary: Financial, Technical and State Support 60 III. Conclusions 63 A. Findings 63 1. Concerning Development Failure 63 2. Concerning Development Success 63 B. Indigenous Development Scenario 64 1. Outside Support 64 2. Indigenous Group(s) Characteristics 65 3. At the Outside Support/Indigenous Group Interface 66 C. Preconditions and Goals 66 Contents (continued) D. Future Directions 67 1. Markets for Indigenous Products 68 2. Indigenous Political Organizations 69 3. Maintenance of Cohesion during Economic Development 69 4. Broader Government Policy toward Indigenous Peoples 69 Bibliography 71 Tables 1. Indigenous Groups and Cases Examined 8-14 2. Impacts on Success of Project 16-18 3. Knowledge, Skills, and Technology Used Specifically for Development Efforts Examined 33 4. Primary Project Management Responsibility 37 5. Groups That Provided Technical Support 53 6. State Policy and Action 58 Boxes 1. Human Rights and Personal Security 20 2. Food Security, Nutrition, and Production for Export 22 3. Land Security and Development 24 4. Land and Legal Requirements 25 5. A Model of Self-Determination 28 6. The Antithesis of Self-Determination 30 7. Limits of Self-Determination 30 8. Cultural Revaluation 32 9. Cultural Revitalization and Change 33 10. Culture-Broker Elites 36 11. Community Control 38 12. Management and Community Involvement 40 13. Freedom from Middlemen through Cooperative Stores 43 14. Financial Support and Indigenous Organizations 49 15. Supporting Indigenous Cultural Revaluation and IdeaDevelopment 50 16. Market Support 52 17. Long-Term, Detailed Technical Support 54 18. A Missionary Profile 55 19. Management Support and the Problem of Control 56 20. State Support and Indigenous Organizations 59 21. Political Stability 60 Appendix 1: Case Matrices Appendix 2: Database Coding Form Appendix 3: A Little-Known Case: Venezuela's Empresas Indigenas Summary This report represents an effort to synthesize some of the lessons that can be learned from a review of the literature on development directed toward indigenous peoples in Latin America. The goals are (1) to identify those characteristics underlying, enabling, or enhancing the success of such "positive" development projects; (2) to determine those conditions that are significant obstacles to development success; and (3) to extrapolate from this evidence to generate hypotheses and recommendations concerning the best practices for development efforts directed toward aiding indigenous development in the region. In-depth information on 42 specific cases of indigenous development in Latin America served as the basic source of data for analysis and the generation of theory and proposals. The cases represent information from a large number of countries, involve a wide variety of development interventions, and include projects carried out among relatively isolated lowland indigenous groups as well as in "peasantized" indigenous communities. Of the 42 cases, 28 are considered as basically. successful, 8 are viewed as not successful or only nominally successful, and 6 are unclear in relation to outcomes. FINDINGS The Legal Framework The lack of a legal framework supporting and enforcing indigenous rights at numerous levels presents a basic and often insurmountable