This dissertation is aimed at analyzing how ethnic hierarchies question the environmentalization of indigeneity, which is the foundation of the Colombian state's multicultural policy. In particular, the dissertation develops a comparative ethnographic approach to the way in which the "multicultural turn" of 1991 impacted three indigenous communities located at San José del Guaviare, a colonization frontier in the Colombian Amazon: the Nükak, the Jiw and the Tucano. Against the assumption of multicultural policy that indigenous communities form a vast mass of people radically diferent from mainstream (even portrayed as anti-modern), in San José there is an unequal distribution of the Nükak, Jiw and Tucano in different positions inside local ethnic hierarchies. For some, Nükak incarnate what Hale (2004) label as a "good ethnicity", that serves to promote Guaviare as an eco-touristic destination, the Jiw are a "bad ethnicity" that annoys White people in San José, while the Tucano are portrayed as "civilized Indians". Thus, the dissertation states how these ethnic hierarchies contradict some of the core assumptions of multicultural policies that are based on an essentialized understanding of indigenous peoples as "ecologically noble savages." The dissertation argues that the analysis of contemporary experiences on indigeneity in an Amazonian context such as San José, could be better understood if it observes a set of processes and actors including: the historical transformation of senses on otherness, the production of forests as a field of domain under state regulations, the economic crossroads affecting indigenous peoples on their "resguardos" (indigenous lands) and the intervention of state laws, NGOs, indigenous political organizations, settlers, foreign governments and state officials. The analysis of such a variety of processes and actors shaping contemporary experiences on indigeneity in the Colombian Amazon follows the environmentality approach (Agrawal, 2005). From that perspective, I discuss the following ideas: a) indigenous resguardos were designed as governmentalized localities in multicultural policy to regulate and control how indigenous peoples manage natural resources; b) those communities portrayed as followers of the ecological nobility script act as regulatory communities; c) the technologies for governing the ecological realm do not necessarily assure the formation of environmental subjectivities.

This research is an interdisciplinary work on the use of media by marginalized ethnic minorities for self-representation, using as its frame of reference scholars such as Faye Ginsburg, Gayatri Spivak, Judith Butler, Stuart Hall, Achille Mbembe, and David Harvey. Specifically, this dissertation examines Indigenous communities in Brazil and the Roma (Gypsy) population of Spain, uncovering the multiple discourses through which ethnic identities have to be negotiated within a larger dominant culture, especially in contexts of globalization, and brings to this discussion the theorization of new media. These two highly stigmatized populations have been finding new and more democratic venues for collectively defining their own cultures in the complex process of identity (re)creation. Based on interviews with media producers, I discuss community radio stations, online network groups, video making, and blogs, and how these constitute different tools for promoting culture and conducting political activism. Through constant performances of culture, I argue, they are able to restore and participate in the dialogue on self-determination and minority rights in a different sphere of discourse, both locally and globally, at the same time that they also influence their own (and others') understanding of their ethnic identity. In terms of the impact of media products produced autonomously or in collaboration with non-Indigenous groups, this research also addresses the fact that, despite the efforts of both Indigenous and Roma groups in using these new media as non-hegemonic communication venues, their invisibility as a subject is often repeated, even when sympathetically supported by the discourse of cultural diversity, due to financial and distribution constraints. Ultimately, this study brings together their similarities and differences to determine how these technologies can be both helpful or hinder the self-affirmation and increased autonomy of ethnic minority groups.

This grounded theory qualitative study explores conceptualizations of Diné T'áá Bi At'éego, "a well-directed person," held by eighteen Diné people, ranging in age from their 20s to 70s, from three distinctly different communities. By inquiring into personal attributes and abilities valued in Diné culture, the groundbreaking work of Navajo philosopher Kenneth Begishe is extended. The purpose of this study is to identify and document specific characteristics, attributes, skills, knowledge, practices, connections, and relationships currently honored and respected within Diné communities so they might be used to develop long-term Student Learning Objectives in the creation of a Diné culture based curriculum supporting the development of a strong Diné identity in students. The data, provided by participants through interviews, leads to the emergence of four umbrella categories (Thinking, Doing, Being, Achieving Harmony) and numerous sub-categories constituting the characteristics attributes, skills, knowledge, connections, and relationships valued and respected by the participants. The results are compared to Kenneth Begishe's (1968) model of "Diné T'áá Bi At'éego," in which he indicates important characteristics of a well-directed person. The comparison suggests that Diné people continue to value many of the same characteristics Begishe identified more than four decades ago. In spite of the affirmation of characteristics represented in Begishe's model, participants in this study provide a recurring theme that is not articulated by Begishe - the achievement of harmony, which, a review of the literature reveals, is closely related to three important aspects of the Diné worldview, K'é, Sa'ah Naagháí Bik'eh Hózhó (SNBH), and Hózhó. Study findings suggest that although Diné people who participated in the project continue to value time-honored characteristics, attributes, skills, knowledge, practices, connections, and relationships in people they admire and respect, they do hold several conceptualizations that seem to be shifting away from traditional Diné perspectives and toward those held in the mainstream. Study data further reveals four categories of narratives used by participants to communicate and emphasize characteristics, attributes, skills, knowledge, practices, connections, and relationships exhibited by those who are "well-directed." The narratives range from traditional accounts involving mythical elements, to first-person descriptions of individuals with whom participants were intimately familiar.

This study examines the conflict between indigenous rights and the exploitation of land in Chile. The conflict is displayed through a public discourse about the recognition of the indigenous people on the one hand, and the application of the anti-terrorist law against the indigenous people on the other. The anti-terrorist law is currently applied to the indigenous group, the Mapuches, in southern Chile, which makes this issue particularly acute. The role of the international community and the international laws surrounding this issue thus play a part in the conclusions made by the author, together with minority rights and the concepts of sovereignty and terrorism. The case is further placed within the world-economy through the concepts of World System Theory by Immanuel Wallerstein.

Resilience and post trauma responses often coexist, however, for the past decades, the trauma paradigm has served as the dominant explanatory framework for human suffering in post-conflict environments, while the resilience of individuals and communities affected by mass violence has not been given equal prominence. Consequently, mental health interventions in post-conflict zones often fail to respond to local realities and are ill equipped to foster local strengths. Drawing primarily from trauma, feminist and structural violence theories, this study strengthens understanding of adult resilience to traumatic exposure by examining the resilience of Quechua women in the aftermath of the political violence in Peru (1980-2000), and their endurance of racially and gender-targeted violence. The study uses a cross sectional survey to examine the resilience and posttraumatic responses of 151 Quechua women. Participants were recruited from an urban setting and three rural villages in Ayacucho, Peru. The study examines the associations between resilience, past exposure to violence, current life stress and post-trauma related symptoms as well as the individual and community factors associated with the resilience of Quechua women. In doing so, this study makes a unique contribution by simultaneously examining posttraumatic responses and resilience in a post-conflict society, an area with a dearth of research. Results indicate that resilience was not associated with overall posttraumatic stress related symptoms, but instead higher resilience was associated with lower level of avoidance symptoms and therefore with lesser likelihood of chronic symptoms. Findings also demonstrate that enhanced resilience was associated with women’s participation in civic associations, as well as being a returnee of mass displacement. Lower resilience was instead associated with lower levels of education, absence of income generated from a formal employment and the experience of sexual violence during the conflict. These results were triangulated with qualitative findings, which show that work, family, religion, and social participation are enhancing factors of resilience. The study highlights the courage and resilience of Quechua women despite persistent experiences of everyday violence. The importance to situate trauma and resilience within historical processes of oppression and social transformation as well as other implications for social work practice and research are discussed.

This study investigates two central research problems. These are: What are the healing practices of Aeta women? What are the implications of the healing practices of Aeta women in the academic discourse? This inquiry is important for the following reasons: (a) it focuses a reconsidered gaze and empirical lens on the healing practices of Aeta women healers as well as the lessons, insights and perspectives which may have been previously missed; (b) my research attempts not to be 'neutral' but instead be an exercise in participatory action research and as such hopefully brings a new space of decolonization by documenting Aeta women healers’ contributions in the political and academic arena; and (c) it is an original contribution to postcolonial, anti-colonial and Indigenous feminist theories particularly through its demonstration the utility of these theories in understanding the health of Indigenous peoples and global health. There are 12 Aeta women healers who participated in the Talking Circle. This study is significant in grounding both the theory and the methodology while comparatively evaluating claims calibrated against the benchmark of the actual narratives of Aeta women healers. These evaluations subsequently categorized my findings into three themes: namely, identity, agency and representation. This work is also important in illustrating the Indigenous communities’ commonalities on resistance, accommodation, evolution and devolution of social institutions and leadership through empirical example. The work also sheds light on how the members of our Circle and their communities’ experiences with outsider intrusion and imposed changes intentionally structured to dominate them as Indigenous people altered our participants and their communities. Though the reactions of the Aeta were and are unique in this adaptive process they join a growing comparative scholarly discussion on how contexts for colonization were the same or different. This thesis therefore joins a growing comparative educational literature on the contextual variations among global experiences with colonization. This is important since Indigenous Peoples' experiences are almost always portrayed as unique or “exotic”. I can now understand through comparison that many of the processes from military to pedagogical impositions bore striking similarities across various colonial, geographical and cultural locations.

The main objectives of this study were to identify the role that customary law and traditional leadership can play, without compromising their current positions or future recognition through legislation, in creating a better life for their constituents. The study analysed diverse issues such as legislative reform, the future role and functions of traditional leaders, training needs of traditional leaders, and the impact of a possible lack of commitment by national and provincial government on the training of traditional leaders to fulfill their functions within the ambit of the Constitution.

Indigenous societies discuss the importance of Mother Earth for their well-being and many are working to regain control of their lands and waters and how they are used. Critically, many state that land access strengthens culture and traditional (ecological) knowledge. In this research I tried to determine if the reality reflects the rhetoric, looking particularly at how the concepts of economic development and traditional knowledge interact with each other, and impact Indigenous resource management. The case study focused on the Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq, examining the process of management implementation at a macro level. Sixteen semi-structured interviews took place in nine of thirteen communities. The results illustrated that economic development is necessary for Mi’kmaq sustainability and community sustenance, but also economic development is a needed political tool to gain power with the state. Further, traditional knowledge is connected to land management. With the loss of this knowledge due to colonialism and a greater influence of mainstream western liberal thought, respect for the land is reduced and this impacts Indigenous resource management practices. These factors also negatively impact relations between individuals and within the community as a whole. For true (Mi’kmaq) sustainability, resource management strategies should be based on Mi’kmaq values and practices and be wary of capitalist tendencies. / Thesis (Master, Global Development Studies) -- Queen's University, 2013-09-08 13:03:57.366

The idea of a distinctly ‘liberal’ form of multiculturalism has emerged in the theory and practice of Western democracies and the international community has become actively engaged in its global dissemination via international norms and organizations. This thesis investigates the internationalization of minority rights, by exploring state-minority relations in Cambodia, in light of Will Kymlicka’s theory of multicultural citizenship. Based on extensive empirical research, the analysis explores the situation and aspirations of Cambodia’s ethnic Vietnamese, highland peoples, Muslim Cham, ethnic Chinese and Lao and the relationships between these groups and the state. All Cambodian regimes since independence have defined citizenship with reference to the ethnicity of the Khmer majority and have - often violently - enforced this conception through the assimilation of highland peoples and the Cham and the exclusion of ethnic Vietnamese and Chinese. Cambodia’s current constitution, too, defines citizenship ethnically. State-sponsored Khmerization systematically privileges members of the majority culture and marginalizes minority members politically, economically and socially. The thesis investigates various international initiatives aimed at promoting application of minority rights norms in Cambodia. It demonstrates that these initiatives have largely failed to accomplish a greater degree of compliance with international norms in practice. This failure can be explained by a number of factors, among them Cambodia’s neo-patrimonial political system, the geo-political fears of a ‘minoritized’ Khmer majority, the absence of effective regional security institutions, the lack of minority access to political decision-making, the significant differences between international and Cambodian conceptions of modern statehood and citizenship and the emergence of China as Cambodia’s most important bilateral donor and investor. Based on this analysis, the dissertation develops recommendations for a sequenced approach to minority rights promotion, with pragmatic, less ambitious shorter-term measures that work progressively towards achievement of international norms in the longer-term. / In der politischen Theorie und Praxis liberaler Demokratien hat sich die Idee eines explizit liberalen Multikulturalismus etabliert. Die internationale Gemeinschaft verbreitet diese Idee weltweit durch Völkerrechtsnormen und internationale Organisationen. Auf der Grundlage umfangreicher Feldforschung untersucht die vorliegende Dissertation die Internationalisierung von Minderheitenrechten am Beispiel Kambodschas. Dazu werden die Situation und Aspirationen von Kambodschas ethnischen Vietnamesen, Bergvölkern, islamischen Cham, ethnischen Chinesen und Laoten und das Verhältnis zwischen diesen Gruppen und dem Staat analysiert. Alle kambodschanischen Regimes seit der Unabhängigkeit haben Staatsbürgerschaft über die Ethnizität der Khmer Mehrheit definiert und diese Konzeption durch den Versuch der Assimilation der Bergvölker und Cham und den Ausschluss ethnischer Vietnamesen und Chinesen aktiv und oft gewaltsam zu verwirklichen versucht. Auch die aktuelle Verfassung definiert Mitgliedschaft im Gemeinwesen ethnisch. Das Streben des Staates nach der kulturellen ‚Khmerisation‘ der Bevölkerung privilegiert Mehrheitsmitglieder und marginalisiert Mitglieder kultureller Minderheiten politisch, wirtschaftlich und sozial. Trotz vielfältiger Initiativen ist die internationale Gemeinschaft daran gescheitert, in Kambodscha die Anwendung internationaler Minderheitenrechte zu erreichen. Die Analyse erklärt dieses Scheitern mit einer Reihe von Faktoren, darunter Kambodschas neo-patrimonialem Regierungssystem, den geo-politischen Ängsten einer ‚minoritisierten’ Khmer Mehrheit, dem Fehlen effektiver regionaler Sicherheitsinstitutionen, dem fehlenden Zugang von Minderheiten zu politischen Entscheidungsprozessen, den erheblichen Unterschieden zwischen internationalen und kambodschanischen Konzeptionen von moderner Staatlichkeit und Staatsbürgerschaft sowie der zunehmenden Bedeutung Chinas als Kambodschas wichtigstem bilateraler Geber und Investor. Auf der Grundlage dieser Analyse entwickelt die Arbeit Empfehlungen, wie die internationale Gemeinschaft mit einem sequenzierten Ansatz die schrittweise Annäherung an internationale Normen und deren langfristige Einhaltung erreichen kann.

Cross-cultural assessment in South Africa has become more prominent since the first democratic elections held in April 1994, and stronger demands for the cultural appropriateness of psychological tests have arisen. The use of psychometric testing, including personality assessment in the workplace, is now strictly controlled by legislation, among others the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996), the Labour Relations Act (66 of 1995), and the Employment Equity Act (55 of 1998), and the Health Professions Act (56 of 1974). Much controversy has arisen regarding the relevance and applicability of assessment instruments in South Africa. The majority of assessment procedures still make use of imported instruments that are either used in their original or adapted form. Psychological assessment instruments imported from abroad have an insufficient suitability in the multicultural South African context. There are various perspectives regarding the appropriate measurement of personality across cultures. In this research study implicit perspectives of personality, the lexical approach, indigenous psychology and the emic approach were used to determine the personality perspectives of the Tsonga culture in South Africa. The objectives of this study were to investigate how personality is conceptualised in literature, to identify the problems surrounding personality measurement for the South African context, to explore how personality perspectives could be determined and to investigate the personality descriptive terms in the Tsonga language group. A qualitative research design was used to collect the data of this research. A total of 5 502 personality descriptors were obtained through the 1 0-item interview questionnaires. Content analysis was used to analyse, reduce and interpret the data obtained from the participants. The personality descriptors obtained were reduced by removing superfluous words. These personality descriptors were then interpreted and categorised into a total of 109 personality dimensions. These characteristics were categorised into nine clusters, namely Optimism, Agreeableness, Emotional Stability, Narrow-mindedness, Intelligence, Conscientiousness, Aggressiveness, Dominance and Sociability. The following personality dimensions had the highest frequency: Emotional Stability, Caring, Helpful, Hard working, Advising, Generous, Traditional, Aggression, Recreational, Substance use, Religious, Sociable and Loving. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.