This chapter compares and contrasts the separate UN regimes of rights for minorities and for indigenous peoples: their historical antecedents; the conditions and actors behind the emergence ...
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This chapter compares and contrasts the separate UN regimes of rights for minorities and for indigenous peoples: their historical antecedents; the conditions and actors behind the emergence of the present regimes; their foundational texts and enabling mechanisms; their common as well as divergent goals. The chapter highlights minorities’ pursuit of equality and non-discrimination. Indigenous peoples, on the other hand, use the normative tool of self-determination, which they hope will help them maintain or regain their traditional lands, territories, and resources that have sustained their physical and cultural survival but are endangered by globalization. The two sets of goals, while appreciably different, are not mutually exclusive; both assert the rights to be equal to and different or separate from dominant populations.
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