Reflections on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Studies in International Law)

The adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2007, was acclaimed as a major success for the UN system, given the extent to which it consolidates and develops the international corpus of indigenous rights. This is the first in-depth academic analysis of this far-reaching instrument. Indigenous representatives have argued that the rights contained in the Declaration, and the processes by which it was formulated, obligate affected States to accept the validity of its provisions and its interpretation of contested concepts, such as 'culture,' 'land,' 'ownership,' and 'self-determination.' This edited collection contains essays written by the main protagonists in the development of the Declaration, indigenous representatives, and field-leading academics. It offers comprehensive institutional, thematic, and regional analysis of the Declaration. In particular, it explores the Declaration's normative resonance for international law and considers the ways this international instrument could be a catalyst for institutional action and influence the development of national laws and policies on indigenous issues. It will be invaluable to legal scholars of indigenous and minority rights, political theorists, human rights activists, and human rights practitioners.