During the past decade there has emerged growing criticism largely from anti-essentialist social scientists and multicultural politicians advocating a critique of ethnic and indigenous movements, accompanied by a general
backlash in governmental policies and public opinion towards indigenous communities.
This book focuses on the implication of change for indigenous peoples, their political, legal and cultural strategies. Discussing cultural development in Australia, Guatemala, U.S.A., the Nordic countries, Africa and
on the international (UN) level, the authors address such current indigenous themes as:
- national unity vs. ethnic diversity;
- assimilation vs. self-determination;
- equality vs. tolerance for difference;
- multiculturalism vs. collective cultural identities;
- the indigenous politics of knowledge in both academic and aesthetic
institutions.
