Indigenous Communities Defining and Utilising Self-determination as an Individual and Collective Capability

Heather Sauyaq Jean Gordon and Ranjan Datta

Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 2022, vol. 23, issue 2, 182-205

Abstract: International law establishes who has rights to self-determination and outlines the rights of Indigenous people through the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Many countries who are United Nations members, such as those of our case studies, have not made changes to their laws to implement UNDRIP. This affects how Indigenous peoples can engage in capabilities for self-determination for their wellbeing. Drawing from methods that are adapted to be in alliance with Indigenous methodologies through utilising Indigenous relational theoretical frameworks, we present two case studies, one in the U.S. that used ethnographic futures research and one in Bangladesh that used participatory action research. Our paper critically discusses: (1) how the capability approach relates to Indigenous self-determination and wellbeing, (2) how colonisation affects the ability of Indigenous people to engage in capabilities for self-determination, (3) how Indigenous people define and utilise self-determination as an individual and collective capability for their wellbeing, and (4) how unfreedoms restrict Indigenous people from utilising the capabilities for self-determination. We hope that this paper will contribute to broadening the capability approach to be able to engage more fully with Indigenous peoples.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1080/19452829.2021.1966613

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