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This book brings together a valuable collection of case studies and conceptual approaches that outline the present state of Amazonia in the 21st century. The many problems are described and the benefits, as well as the achievements of regional development are also discussed. The book focuses on three themes for discussion and recommendations: indigenous peoples, their home (the forest), and the way(s) to protect and sustain their natural home (biodiversity conservation). Using these three themes this volume offers a comprehensive critical review of the facts that have been the reality of Amazonia and fills a gap in the literature.The book will appeal to scholars, professors and practitioners...
By describing the fabric of relationships indigenous peoples weave with their environment, The Land Within attempts to define a more precise notion of indigenous territoriality. A large part of the work of titling the South American indigenous territories may now be completed but this book aims to demonstrate that, in addition to management, these territories involve many other complex aspects that must not be overlooked if the risk of losing these areas to settlers or extraction companies is to be avoided. Alexandre Surralls holds a doctorate in anthropology from the School for Higher Studies in Social Sciences and is a researcher on the staff of the National Centre for Scientific Research. Pedro Garca Hierro is a lawyer from Madrid Complutense University and the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. He has worked with various indigenous organizations, on issues related to the identification and development of collective rights and the promotion of intercultural democratic reforms.
The concern for the fast-disappearing language stocks of the world has arisen particularly in the past decade, as a result of the impact of globalization. This book appears as an answer to a felt need: to catalogue and describe those languages, making up the vast majority of the world's six thousand or more distinct tongues, which are in danger of disappearing within the next few decades. Endangerment is a complex issue, and the reasons why so many of the world's smaller, less empowered languages are not being passed on to future generations today are discussed in the book's introduction. The introduction is followed by regional sections, each authored by a notable specialist, combining to p...
Describes the culture of the Parakanã, a little-known indigenous people of Amazonia, focusing on conflict and ritual.
The Amazon region is the focus of intense conflict between conservationists concerned with deforestation and advocates of agro-industrial development. This book focuses on the contributions of environmental organizations to the preservation of Brazilian Amazonia. It reveals how environmental organizations such as Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, WWF and others have fought fiercely to stop deforestation in the region. It documents how the history of frontier expansion and environmental struggle in the region is linked to Brazil’s position in an evolving capitalist world-economy. It is shown how Brazil’s effort to become a developed country has led successive Brazilian governments to devise development projects for Amazonia. The author analyses how globalization has led to the expansion of international commodity chains in the region, particularly for mineral ores, soybeans and beef. He shows how environmental organizations have politicized these commodity chains as weapons of conservation, through boycotting certain products, while other pro-development groups within Brazil claim that such organizations threaten Brazil's sovereignty over its own resources.
Around the year 1800, independent Native groups still effectively controlled about half the territory of the Americas. How did they maintain their political autonomy and territorial sovereignty, hundreds of years after the arrival of Europeans? In a study that spans the eighteenth to twentieth centuries and ranges across the vast interior of South America, Heather F. Roller examines this history of power and persistence from the vantage point of autonomous Native peoples in Brazil. The central argument of the book is that Indigenous groups took the initiative in their contacts with Brazilian society. Rather than fleeing or evading contact, Native peoples actively sought to appropriate what w...
This book adopts a sociolinguistic perspective to trace the origins and enduring significance of hip-hop as a global tool of resistance to oppression. The contributors, who represent a range of international perspectives, analyse how hip-hop is employed to express dissatisfaction and dissent relating to such issues as immigration, racism, stereotypes and post-colonialism. Utilising a range of methodological approaches, they shed light on diverse hip-hop cultures and practices around the world, highlighting issues of relevance in the different countries from which their research originates. Together, the authors expand on current global understandings of hip-hop, language and culture, and underline its immense power as a form of popular culture through which the disenfranchised and oppressed can gain and maintain a voice. This thought-provoking edited collection is a must-read for scholars and students of linguistics, race studies and political activism, and for anyone with an interest in hip-hop.
This book analyses the topic of protecting traditional cultural expressions (TCEs) in Latin America. It questions classic legal approaches and involves the interface of anthropology and law. The study analyses regional, national and local particularities of law on paper and law in reality. It includes personal fieldwork research in selected countries and puts light on the political, socio-economic and environmental dimension of the topic. Based upon these insights, the study gives recommendations for a more enhanced, interdisciplinary understanding and protection of TCEs. Latin America is (still) rich of cultural traditions and bio- and sociodiversity. This region is the cradle of the intern...
This book examines the process of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in Brazil through the lens of community involvement. The author argues that the implementation of controversial projects, such as the Volta Grande mining project, demonstrate the failure of the current system to acknowledge the interests of local communities. Using international comparisons of public policy on environmental issues, the author proposes a model which aims to improve public participation in Brazilian environmental decisions.