Self-Determination as Voice The Participation of Indigenous Peoples in International Governance

Self-Determination as Voice addresses the relationship between Indigenous peoples' participation in international governance and the law of self-determination. Many states and international organizations have put in place institutional mechanisms for the express purpose of including Indigenous representatives in international policy-making and decision-making processes, as well as in the negotiation and drafting of international legal instruments. Indigenous peoples' rights have a higher profile in the UN system than ever before. This book argues that the establishment and use of mechanisms and policies to enable a certain level of Indigenous peoples' participation in international governance has become a widespread practice, and perhaps even one that is accepted as law. In theory, the law of self-determination supports this move, and it is arguably emerging as a rule of customary international law. However, ultimately the achievement of the ideal of full and effective participation, in a manner that would fulfil Indigenous peoples' right to self-determination, remains deferred.

Introduction; 1. Participation in international governance and the logic of self-determination; 2. Finding support for indigenous peoples' participation in the sources of international Law; 3. The proliferation of indigenous peoples' participation, 1982-2007; 4. Emerging legal status? Participation of indigenous peoples, 2007-2022; 5. Conclusion: new epoch, old stones; Bibliography; International documents; Index.

Natalie Jones is a policy advisor at the International Institute for Sustainable Development. After graduating from the University of Canterbury, Natalie completed an LLM and PhD at the University of Cambridge, where she won the Whewell Scholarship for International Law. She is an admitted barrister and solicitor in New Zealand.