Indigenous Agency and Normative Change from ‘Below’ in Russia: Izhma-Komi’s Perspective on Governance and Recognition

Source at https://doi.org/10.23865/arctic.v10.1798. The article addresses the issue of indigenous agency and its influence on the contestation of indigenous rights norms in an extractive context from the perspective of organizations representing people, whose recognition as ‘indigenous’ is withheld...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Arctic Review on Law and Politics
Main Author: Peeters, Marina Goloviznina
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cappelen Damm Akademisk (NOASP) 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10037/16527
https://doi.org/10.23865/arctic.v10.1798
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Summary:Source at https://doi.org/10.23865/arctic.v10.1798. The article addresses the issue of indigenous agency and its influence on the contestation of indigenous rights norms in an extractive context from the perspective of organizations representing people, whose recognition as ‘indigenous’ is withheld by the Russian authorities. The article argues that a governance perspective and approach to recognition from ‘below’ provides a useful lens for comprehensively exploring strategies on norms contestation applied by these groups in the authoritarian normative context of Russia. Based on findings from a case study of Izhma-Komi organizations in the northwest Russian Arctic, the article identifies three strategies utilized by these organizations. By mobilizing inter-indigenous recognition, forging alliances with environmentalists and negotiating with an oil company, Izhma-Komi organizations have managed to extend certain rights and power previously not granted to them in an extractive context locally.