The non-sequential path between indigenous social movements and collective rights in latin america : the role of organizations and institutional conditions to tell the story

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI--COLUMBIA AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Why do some countries in Latin America have a strong inclusion of collective rights for indigenous people while others do not? What are the factors that help to enhance the presence of collective rights? Collective rights are a legal entitlement based on solidarity and self-determination as a group for indigenous communities. Latin America is one of the regions with a high level of recognition of these rights, but protections differ considerably between countries. According to several authors, the most important factor for the successful recognition of collective rights in several legal instruments is indigenous social movements. However, the relationship between indigenous social movements and collective rights across the diverse countries of the region is not as strong as this literature suggests. I argue there are other factors more important than indigenous social movements for recognizing collective rights. Specifically, indigenous social movements include collective rights only if they create coalitions between the different indigenous nationalities and if they create coalitions with other non-indigenous people. Furthermore, greater recognition of the collective rights of indigenous people occurs when there are a weak party system and constitutional instability. For testing these hypotheses, I will employ qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) and case studies. Specifically, with QCA, I will examine how the conditions behave in a table of truth with seven countries of the region. Additionally, I will study 3 cases (Colombia, Peru, and Chile) in-depth to understand the process and causal mechanisms at work. The results support these hypotheses