Abstract
A full and effective implementation of Indigenous Peoples’ rights continues to be one of the most significant challenges to overcome worldwide. In particular, academia, international organisations, and practitioners dealing with international Indigenous Peoples’ rights are still struggling to strike a balance between a western versus an own-Indigenous epistemology with regard to human and Indigenous rights; to find a common ground and understanding regarding the division between collective and individual rights; and to envisage and foster the fair application of other fundamental Indigenous rights such as those of self-determination, participation, consultation, and free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC). The literature on these rights has recently expanded to deal with, for example, the transformative role of fpic;1 how the right to political participation of Indigenous Peoples is and needs to be composite and holistic; and how (prior) consultation is performed, administered, and institutionalised, as well as how, in many cases, its application ultimately fails, including the reasons and the drivers behind this, and how it is used by States to discard their responsibilities or employed by Indigenous Peoples to advance their rights’ agenda in different parts of the world. However, for a long time, a gap has existed in the literature regarding how to avoid those aspects of Indigenous Peoples’ rights—whose aim is to guarantee that this (still vulnerable) sector of society is finally recognised, respected, and has a say in their matters—that might eventually cause intersectional discrimination in relation to the exercise of their rights, thereby undermining the overall goal and effectiveness of those same rights. The book under review, "Reconciling Indigenous Peoples’ Individual and Collective Rights. Participation, Prior Consultation and Self-Determination in Latin America" (Routledge, Abington, New York: 2019) authored by Jessika Eichler, addresses these gaps and engages in an in-depth analysis of the individual and collective dimensions of the rights of Indigenous Peoples and of three subgroups within them (i.e., women, children, and elders) by pointing to those dynamics that might provoke intersectional discrimination and hinder the application of Indigenous rights with a focus on self-determination, participation, consultation, and FPIC.