Constructions of Indigeneity in Urban Spaces: Local Adaption of a Global Idea?

Abstract

This work will analyze two specific spaces in which indigeneity is constructed. For the analysis of an international space, the example of the International Labor Organization (ILO) will be used. The ILO convention 169 had an especially remarkably influence on international debates beyond the organization itself. The limitation to just one organization leads inevitably to a simplification of global dynamics. The influences of NGOs, lobbyist groups and the United Nations as a network will be described in a short overview. An analysis of the interaction of all those forces, participating in the creation of meanings of indigeneity would not fit into one article.3 In the same way, the focus on international and local debates simplifies the networks that exist between the spatial levels. For example, national narratives strongly influence local debates, and the analyzed international organization is formed by governments of nation-states. The simplifications are made, to point out central interactions between spatial levels, to identify the political meaning of indigeneity, whereas it is not intended to analyze all the participating forces.