For indigenous peoples around the world, economic globalization is not just about marginalization, it represents a multifaceted attack on the very basis of their existence.
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Trade liberalization and export-related development, which involves the exploitation of natural resources by multinational corporations on indigenous territories, further marginalizes them and undermines their inherent right to self-determination. Whether mining, forestry or oil exploitation, hydroelectric construction or export-oriented agro-industry, these development projects are generally accompanied by environmental degradation. Moreover, the resulting militarization and violence often jeopardizes the possibilities of adopting traditional livelihoods and maintaining social and cultural institutions specific to these peoples.
Indigenous women are often the first to suffer the negative effects of globalization as primary providers. This is particularly the case in the countries of the Global South, where they become overexploited workers following their entry into the wage sector.
These women are also the first to suffer the destruction of indigenous economies, increased emigration, and other local consequences of global economic restructuring.
There are also newer forms of exploitation of indigenous peoples and their cultures, such as the theft and patenting of traditional knowledge and biological and genetic resources, including through the Property Rights Aspects Agreement trade-related intellectual property. The restructuring of the global economy, which involves trade liberalization, extensive privatization and “free trade”, has also greatly increased the pressure on indigenous territories. The prevailing global economic system is based on continuous growth and therefore requires an incessant supply of natural resources, of which the remaining resources that continue to be exploited are often found on indigenous territories. The deregulation of national laws and regulations relating to the extraction of natural resources has led to a serious violation of international instruments, constitutional provisions and national laws and policies protecting the rights of indigenous peoples. The most central of these rights, the right to self-determination of Indigenous peoples, has been frequently challenged and undermined through new multilateral economic treaties between national governments.
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My purpose here is not to present Aboriginal women as mere victims of globalization or violence. Even those who find themselves in situations where the options are very limited do not necessarily lose their agency and their capacity to make choices, political among others (see the text by Suzy Basile in this book). They themselves underline the fact that instead of being victims, they are the survivors of centuries of exploitation, assimilation and abuse. As Bonita Lawrence (1996) points out, their voices are frequently excluded from feminist discourses on violence against women. They are also often considered as victims because they are not heard as they wish; because their stories remain irreducibly alien to white and other well-meaning people (Spivak, 2006).
Instead of being victims, these women are citizens of their nations fighting for the recognition of their rights.
In many cases, they are organizers who actively mobilize their communities and available resources in the most creative ways that often go beyond the ideologies and practices of the global market economy. However, there is a need to draw more sustained attention to the multifaceted violence they experience, which remains largely in the shadow of public interest and political action. Our role, as Indigenous women in more privileged countries and positions – such as in universities – is not only to analyze these ignored tragedies and keep these issues alive, but also to examine our participation to global capitalism, which directly contributes to their exploitation and militarization.
Excerpt from Rauna Kuokkanen, pp. 249 to 260, from the book Feminist Perspectives in International Relationss
Feminist perspectives in international relations Thinking about the world differently
Under the direction of Maïka Sondarjee
Presses de l’Université de Montréal, May 2022
288 pages
Who is Rauna Kuokkanen?
Rauna Kuokkanen, of indigenous Sámi descent, is Professor of Indigenous Arctic Studies at the University of Lapland, Finland.