Environmental Justice and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: International and Domestic Legal PerspectivesRoutledge, 2012 M05 16 - 368 pages More than 300 million people in over 70 countries make up the worlds indigenous populations. Yet despite ever-growing pressures on their lands, environment and way of life through outside factors such as climate change and globalization, their rights in these and other respects are still not fully recognized in international law. In this incisive book, Laura Westra deftly reveals the lethal effects that damage to ecological integrity can have on communities. Using examples in national and international case law, she demonstrates how their lack of sufficient legal rights leaves indigenous peoples defenceless, time and again, in the face of governments and businesses who have little effective incentive to consult with them (let alone gain their consent) in going ahead with relocations, mining plans and more. The historical background and current legal instruments are discussed and, through examples from the Americas, Africa, Oceania and the special case of the Arctic, a picture emerges of how things must change if indigenous communities are to survive. It is a warning to us all from the example of those who live most closely in tune with nature and are the first to feel the impact when environmental damage goes unchecked. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 86
... fact, although some argue that the UN General Assembly resolutions on human rights are not 'law making', as they can only be declaratory in character (Guradze, 1971), it is beyond doubt that they have influenced the standards of ...
... fact, when Cherie Metcalf lists two major categories of indigenous rights as the 'cultural integrity model' and the 'selfdetermination model', both also present in Anaya's work (Anaya, 2004; Metcalf, 2004), I believe there is an even ...
... fact defines and delimits their cultural presence as a people. The second aspect has their traditional knowledge as its focus, and especially the value of that knowledge to the global community. The first element is akin to the 10 ...
... fact that most such groups are not able to move freely from their present locations, regardless of the harmful conditions to which they might be exposed. Hence, their situation is truly hazardous if the rights I recommend are not ...
... fact, for the realization of most indigenous peoples' rights, state is both an 'enemy' and a 'potential ally', hence indigenous peoples' rights are at one and the same time part of both a national and a global struggle (De Sousa Santos ...
Contents
PART TWO Selected Examples from Domestic and International Case Law | 69 |
Principles and Reality | 161 |
PART FOUR Some Modest Proposals for Global Governance | 217 |
Appendices | 275 |
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations | 311 |
List of Cases | 313 |
List of Documents | 317 |
Bibliography | 323 |
Index | 341 |
Other editions - View all
Environmental Justice and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: International ... Laura Westra No preview available - 2013 |