ABSTRACT
The paper discusses two possible readings of the participation of affected populations in global governance and contrasts these readings with a case study on the Indigenous movement in the United Nations (UN). On the one hand, the inclusion of affected populations can be understood as a crucial step in creating a democratic global society. While NGOs originally played a pivotal role in this process, they were increasingly criticised for a lack of democratic credentials and are now being replaced by affected actors with higher moral authority. On the other hand, the inclusion of affected populations can be read as a strategy of major powers to confine the influence of NGOs who have challenged their dominance. The case study on the Indigenous movement will show how the movement successfully struggled for recognition in the UN. However, states prevented Indigenous peoples (IPs) from gaining substantial political influence. Moreover, the inclusion of IPs puts high pressure on their representatives to professionalise, while many of them lack the resources that NGOs dispose of. Ironically, giving affected populations a voice might in the end re-empower states. To counterbalance this trend, we suggest that movements representing affected populations should strengthen existing links with traditional NGOs.
