Indigenousness in Africa : A Contested Legal Framework for Empowerment of 'Marginalized' Communities

Following the internationalisation of the indigenous rights movement, a growing number of African hunter-gatherers, pastoralists and other communities have adopted indigenousness in claiming special legal protection. Their legal claims as the indigenous peoples of Africa are backed by many international actors such as indigenous rights activists, donors and scholars. However, indigenous identification is resisted by many African governments, some community members and some anthropologists. Felix Mukwiza Ndahinda explores the sources of indigenous identification in Africa and its legal and political implications. Noting the limitations of systematic and discursive, as opposed to activist, studies, it questions the appropriateness of this framework in efforts aimed at empowering claimant communities in inherently multiethnic African countries and adopts an interdisciplinary approach in order to capture the indigenous rights phenomenon in Africa. With a Foreword by Prof. Asbjørn Eide, a former Chairman of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations, Chairman of the UN Working Group on Minorities, President of the Advisory Committee on National Minorities of the Council of Europe Following the internationalization of the indigenous rights movement, a growing number of African hunter-gatherers, pastoralists and other communities have channelled their claims for special legal protection through the global indigenous rights movement. Their claims as the indigenous peoples of Africa are backed by many (international) actors such as indigenous rights activists, donors and some academia. However, indigenous identification is contested by many African governments, some members of non-claimant communities and a number of anthropologists who have extensively interacted with claimant indigenous groups. This book explores the sources as well as the legal and political implications of indigenous identification in Africa. By highlighting the quasi-inexistence of systematic and discursive – rather than activist – studies on the subject-matter, the analysis questions the appropriateness of this framework in efforts aimed at empowering claimant communities in inherently multiethnic African countries. The book navigates between various disciplines in trying to better capture the phenomenon of indigenous rights advocacy in Africa. The book is valuable reading for academics in law and all (other) social sciences such as anthropology, sociology, history, political science, as well as for economists. It is also a useful tool for policy-makers, legal practitioners, indigenous rights activists, and a wide range of NGOs. Dr. Felix Mukwiza Ndahinda is Associate Professor at the International Victimology Institute Tilburg (INTERVICT), Tilburg University, The Netherlands. Front Matter....Pages i-xxii Front Matter....Pages 15-16 Introduction: Indigenous Identity in Africa....Pages 1-13 Overview of Narratives on Indigenousness....Pages 17-54 Contextual Application of Indigenousness in Africa....Pages 55-116 Front Matter....Pages 117-118 International Legal Framework and Indigenous Claims in Africa....Pages 119-168 Indigenous Claims and Rights Under African Regional Institutions....Pages 169-212 Front Matter....Pages 213-214 Twa Marginality and Indigenousness in Rwanda....Pages 215-255 Indigenization of Pastoralist Maasai in Kenya....Pages 257-298 Front Matter....Pages 299-300 Indigenousness, Human Security and Empowerment of Marginalized Identities in Africa....Pages 301-340 Indigenousness, Ethnicity, Marginality and Empowerment: Which Path to the Future?....Pages 341-359 Back Matter....Pages 361-393 Introduction: Indigenous Identity In Africa -- Overview Of Narratives On Indigenousness -- Contextual Application Of Indigenousness In Africa -- International Legal Framework And Indigenous Claims In Africa -- Indigenous Claims And Rights Under African Regional Institutions -- Twa Marginality And Indigenousness In Rwanda -- Indigenization Of Pastoralist Maasai In Kenya -- Indigenousness, Human Security And Empowerment Of Marginalized Identities In Africa -- Indigenousness, Ethnicity, Marginality And Empowerment: Which Path In The Future. Felix Mukwiza Ndahinda. Includes Bibliographical References. Analyses the implications of the recognition under international law of a particular community as an indigenous African people.