Afro-descendants in Latin America

There are currently 150 million Afro-descendants in Latin America who make up nearly 30 percent of the region’s population (Congressional Research Service, 2005). Out of the fifteen Latin American nations that have recently adapted some sort of multicultural reform, only three give recognize Afro-Latino communities and give them the same rights as indigenous groups (Hooker, 2005). Indigenous groups are more successful than afro-descendent groups in gaining collective rights and development aid from international NGO’s. Collective rights important because are closely related to land rights and can become a tool to fight descrimination .I will attempt to uncover the causes for the discrepancy. This study relies heavily on ethnographic research on post-colonial ideas of race in Latin America and I will attempt to connect race and power structures in environmental decision-making by interviews with national decision-makers, NGO representatives and both black and indigenous communities .

1. Explaining Indigenous and Afro-Latino Disparities in Collective Rights.

Hooker explores countries of indigenous resistance and ability to organize and speculates on why Afro-Latinos are not as successful in organized and becoming recognized by their government. She suggests why formal multicultural recognition is important and what has been gained for successful groups. She claims Afro-Latinos are much less likely to gain formal recognition as only seven the fifteen Latin American countries to implement multicultural reform give collective rights to Afro-Latinos and only three give Afro-Latinos the same rights as indigenous groups. Hooker dismissed various scholars’ theories as to why indigenous conclusion as to why Afro-Latinos experience less m...

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...eas about the other to discredit claims to the land and present themselves as better caretakers before potential decision-makers.

Mollet’s qualitative methods are similar to those I would like to employ, but I would be working in a different nation. I will conduct interviews to gather the opinions of both Afro-descendent groups and indigenous groups on how they view environmental management and decision-making. I would further like to ask:

1) If they feel are more suitable methods for land management

2) How they their attitudes toward foreign investment and outlooks on inclusion or exploitation.

In summary, I will explore viewpoints on how race influences environmental decision-making, from a variety of perspectives: International sustainable development groups, national legislatures, and minority groups by interviews with representatives at each level.