Indigenous peoples and paradiplomacy: confronting the state-centric order from Latin American transborder spaces

ABSTRACT

Latin American transborder spaces constitute areas of special interest for international relations. Within there is a coexistence of processes associated with the more traditional view of this field – the state and its sovereign prerogatives – with divergent local dynamics. This study focuses on two such dimensions: paradiplomacy and the cross-border relations of indigenous peoples. These expressions make it possible to observe the introduction of international ideas and practices (based on local identities, worldviews, relationships and claims) that challenge state sovereignty over territory, its legitimacy and its exclusive representation in the international system. Despite the historical marginalization of such expressions, this study demonstrates the potential shift in international relations through the introduction of ontologies that demand a reconfiguration of epistemic, disciplinary and international practices.

KEYWORDS:

• transborder spaces
• international relations
• paradiplomacy
• indigenous peoples
• state
• sovereignty
• Latin America

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Latin for ‘as you possess under law’, this principle was applied for the border delimitation of the new Latin American republics since 1810, using the regional jurisdictions delineated by the Spanish Empire as antecedents. It was deemed an imprecise legal principle, barely tertiary and with its cartographic antecedents archived in Europe (Jemio, 2008).

2 Initiative on Indigenous Territory and Governance ‘Pueblos Transfronterizos’. http://territorioindigenaygobernanza.com/web/pueblos-transfronterizos/.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the VRIIP-Arturo Prat University [grant numbers 010201010431 and VRIIP0083-19]; and FONDECYT [grant number 11170817].