The Politics of Indigenous Participation through 'Free Prior Informed Consent'

As democratisation and the introduction of electoral politics in Latin America since the 1990s has proved of limited value in representing the interests of most of the region's citizens, there is a growing awareness that for democracy to take deeper root, new ways are needed to encourage bottom-up forms of political engagement.

In The Politics of Indigenous Participation through 'Free Prior Informed Consent': Reflections from the Bolivian Case, published in the Elsevier journal World Development, IKD members Jean Grugel and Lorenza Fontana reflect on the challenges of ethnic-based participation and its potential for creating inclusive and effective forms of decision-making for marginalised social groups.

In particular they explore a recent attempt to establish more participative forms of governance for indigenous communities in Bolivia through the Free Prior and Informed Consent/Consultation (FPIC). Rooted in international human rights law, FPIC aims to achieve more effective bottom-up participation by establishing an obligation to consult – or obtain the consent of – indigenous peoples before large development projects and legal reforms that would affect them get underway.

Grugel and Fontana argue, however, that FPIC is not a neutral instrument and will not automatically lead to more democratic governance and a more equal society. Their conclusion is that strengthening local institutions is as crucial as expanding participation within FPIC.

Read The Politics of Indigenous Participation on the Elsevier website (available until November 24), or download a draft version. [link to pdf].

The authors have also published the results of their project on the post-2015 development agenda in Latin America. Perspectivas Latinoamericanas sobre la Agenda de Desarrollo Post-2015 is available on the UN website in Spanish, with an executive summary in English.