Introduction

Indigenous rights are today global and embedded in many human rights international regulations and institutions. Legal and policy innovations on Indigenous peoples’ rights have been expanding in regional human rights bodies, such as the African and inter-American human rights systems. The globalization of indigenous rights encounters the globalization of investors’ rights and national and international institutions that support extractive industries and infrastructure projects in the terrain of everyday social practices over the territory. In Mexico, the North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States and Canada promoted a legislative modification directed to dispossess indigenous land. Indigenous peoples follow two political strategies to achieve this aim: counter-hegemonic actions and emancipatory projects. This chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the contentious social and political processes in the building of a new plurinational state model in Bolivia and Ecuador.