Global Politics and Its Violent Care for Indigeneity : Sequels to Colonialism

157 Pages·2018·1.556 MB·English

by  Marjo Lindroth, Heidi Sinevaara-Niskanen

Global Politics and Its Violent Care for Indigeneity
(cid:129)
Marjo Lindroth Heidi Sinevaara-Niskanen
Global Politics and Its
Violent Care for
Indigeneity
Sequels to Colonialism
MarjoLindroth HeidiSinevaara-Niskanen
ArcticCentre UnitforGenderStudies
UniversityofLapland UniversityofLapland
Rovaniemi,Finland Rovaniemi,Finland
ISBN978-3-319-60981-2 ISBN978-3-319-60982-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60982-9
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017956206
©TheEditor(s)(ifapplicable)andTheAuthor(s)2018
Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsaresolelyandexclusivelylicensedbythePublisher,
whetherthewholeorpartofthematerialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,
reprinting,reuseofillustrations,recitation,broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinany
otherphysicalway,andtransmissionorinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,
computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped.
Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthis
publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesare
exemptfromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse.
Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationin
thisbookarebelievedtobetrueandaccurateatthedateofpublication.Neitherthepublisher
northeauthorsortheeditorsgiveawarranty,expressorimplied,withrespecttothematerial
contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher
remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional
affiliations.
CoverImage:©DesignPicsInc/AlamyStockPhoto
CoverDesign:AkihiroNakayama
Printedonacid-freepaper
ThisPalgraveMacmillanimprintispublishedbySpringerNature
TheregisteredcompanyisSpringerInternationalPublishingAG
Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland
A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
Writingthisbook,and,inparticular,conductingtheresearchitisbasedon,
hasbeenanendeavorsupportedbymany.OurcolleaguesattheUniversity
ofLaplandhavebeenofgreatsignificanceinprovidingaresearchenviron-
ment within which to develop our critical ideas. We wish to thank our
colleagues at the Arctic Centre, Unit for Gender Studies and the Faculty
ofSocialSciences.AspecialthankyougoesouttoKirstiLempiäinen,Päivi
Naskali, Julian Reid and Monica Tennberg and the Northern Political
EconomyresearchteamattheArcticCentre.
The research partners in our project Indigeneity in Waiting: Elusive
Rights and the Power of Hope, funded by the Academy of Finland
(2016–2020) and Kone Foundation (2016), have provided us with the
invaluable fuel needed to continue to challenge our thinking. We wish to
thank David Chandler, Mitchell Dean, Tanja Joona, Francesca Merlan,
FrankSejersenandJeffreySissonsforsharingtheirexpertiseandguidance.
The opportunity to visit several universities abroad has been vital for
broadeningourhorizons,in terms ofnot onlyresearchbut also gaining ‘a
sense of the place’. We would like to extend our warmest thanks to
Australian National University and Francesca Merlan, Ilisimatusarfik/the
University of Greenland and Maria Ackrén, as well as the University of
CopenhagenandFrankSejersen.HeartfeltthanksarealsoduetoBirkbeck
SchoolofLawandPeterFitzpatrick,MelbourneLawSchoolandKathleen
Birrell, the University of New South Wales and Sophie Adams, as well as
theUniversityofWestminsterandDavidChandler.
v
vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Withouttheintelligence,humorandsupportofanumberofcolleagues
andfriends,thejourneyinvolvedinwritingthisbookwouldhavebeenfar
lessenjoyable.Wewouldliketoexpressourspecialthanksinthisregardto
Nina Doering, Eeva-Riitta Eerola, Richard Foley, Valeria Guerrieri, Mervi
Kutuniva, Minna Nousiainen, Riikka Matala, Franc¸oise Martz, Hanna
Peltomaa, MinnaRainio, JoonasVolaandOuti Ylitapio-Mäntylä forcom-
panionshipalongtheway.Finally,thegreatestthanksareinordertofamilies
LindrothandSinevaara,Kaapo,MarikaLindrothandTeemuNiskanen.
C
ONTENTS
1 AtHomeinInternationalPolitics 1
ThePromiseofProgress 1
SitesforIndigeneityinInternationalPolitics 4
SketchingGlobalIndigeneity 9
TheLingeringTracesofColonialism 12
TheBiopoliticalPresent 17
References 21
2 ExcludedinthePast,CelebratedinthePresent 27
MakingInternationalPolitics‘Better’ 27
TheDesiretoMakeAmends:ButSomeThingsCannotBe‘Fixed’ 33
DeceitfulInclusion 37
PartnersinCrime 44
PolicingIndigeneity 47
References 50
3 VulnerableYetAdaptive:IndigeneityintheMaking 55
QualificationsforEntry 55
BoundtotheEnvironment 57
VulnerabilityValidates 60
AdaptationGlorifies 63
PiningforPeculiarity 67
vii
viii CONTENTS
SmotheredbyCare 72
References 74
4 TheNeoliberalEmbraceofResilientIndigeneity 79
TheQuestforResilience 79
IndigenizingResilience 82
AttheMercyofItsConditions 89
DilutingthePolitical 95
References 99
5 ModesofLove 103
BiopoliticalLove 103
‘ISeeYou’ 108
‘IRecognizeYourNeeds’ 112
‘IWantYourBest,SoBearwithMe’ 115
EternallyIn-Between 119
References 122
6 Conclusions 127
DebunkingtheMythofProgress 127
IndigeneityOn-Demand 131
(In)SincerelyYours 135
PoliticsofHope 139
KillYourDarlings? 142
References 145
Index 147
CHAPTER1
At Home in International Politics
THE PROMISE OF PROGRESS
Theoriginsofthisbookcanbetracedtoourlongjourney,bothindividual
and shared,studying indigenouspeoples’position in internationalpolitics.
Inthecourseofthatresearch,wehavereflectedonthemeaningofprogress
andmusteredthecouragetospeakoutonsomeoftheignoredorsilenced
issues in the prevailing political system as it invites its ‘Others’ to join.
Originally, as scholars in international relations, we were drawn to the
much-celebrated advances taken within two international political forums,
the United Nations and the Arctic Council, steps that signaled greater
attention to indigenous peoples’ contributions and agendas. For a long
time, the relations between states and indigenous peoples in international
politicshadremainedstatic,withnorealeventssignalingprogressorashift
in the power positions. Now there was an air of hope and anticipation. It
seemed that indigenous peoples and their situations would finally gain the
political and legal attention that they deserved and that the position of
thepeoplesinpursuingtheircauseshadsignificantlyimproved.Thisbeing
the case, the surge in indigenous peoples’ engagement and inclusion in
what was a relatively short time-span—from the late 1980s to the end of
millennium—sparked interest and anticipation that, indeed, global politics
waschanging.
As we started our respective studies on the political participation of
indigenous peoples in the United Nations Permanent Forum on
©TheAuthor(s)2018 1
M.Lindroth,H.Sinevaara-Niskanen,GlobalPoliticsandItsViolent
CareforIndigeneity,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60982-9_1
2 1 ATHOMEININTERNATIONALPOLITICS
IndigenousIssuesandtheArcticCouncilintheearly2000s,wewereeager
to reveal the dimensions of the anticipated progress. In particular, we
wanted to identify the various ways in which indigenous representatives
took part in these political forums and how their newly gained presence
might influence the politics carried on there. At the early stages of our
research, we were enthusiastic about the prospect of international politics
‘movingon’andrearrangingitselftobemoreinclusiveofthosewhomthe
traditional state-based system had excluded, indigenous peoples being the
premierexample.Thestudiesthatweread,thepeoplethatweinterviewed
and the documents that we pored over were full of appreciative and con-
gratulatory words on this moment of success in global politics. The new
ethos of inclusion highlighted the novel possibilities, forms of political
cooperation and leverage that the peoples had gained, a development
contrasting sharply with the fact that international politics, the UN espe-
cially,hadinmanycasesdisillusionedthepeoplesin(not)addressingtheir
needs. Inshort,ourinterestinpoliticsandindigenouspeopleswaspiqued
by this period when something actually happened in global politics: indig-
enous peoples gained institutional access and a political platform of
theirown.
As years went by and piles of data accumulated, both of us in our
respective research contexts became increasingly puzzled by the notion of
change.Itdidlooklikesomestructuralprogressmighthavetakenplace,but
intheendtherewasmoretalkaboutthechangethanadetailedanalysisof
the data suggested. The decision of the UN to establish the Permanent
ForumonIndigenousIssuesandtheinclusionofindigenousrepresentatives
intheregionalpoliticalcooperationinthenewlyestablishedArcticCouncil
had opened up avenues for the peoples. However, after the eye-catching
eventofinvitingthepeoplesin,verylittlehadhappenedintermsofpolitical
substance, enhancing participation that was genuinely equal or taking the
issuesraisedbyindigenousrepresentativesfurther.Itwasatthispoint,when
both of us were struggling to articulate our critical findings, that our
respectivestudiesmorphedintoajointendeavor.Overacupofcoffee,we
came to realize that our respective sets of data pointed toward the same
conclusion to an astonishing degree. We discovered a striking similarity in
thetwopoliticalspaces—ArcticpoliticsandtheUN—asregardsthephrases
used,theunderstandingsofwhatindigenouspeoplesweretorepresentand
theprevailingairofprogress.Fromthewordingofpolicydocumentstothe
statementsdelivered,therewasatangibleconsensusoverthesignificanceof
indigeneity and indigenous peoples’ political representation in global