Managing Multiculturalism: Indigeneity and the Struggle for Rights in Colombia

by Jean Jackson

Indigenous people in Colombia constitute a mere three percent of the national population. Colombian indigenous communities' success in gaining collective control of almost thirty percent of the national territory is nothing short of extraordinary. In Managing Multiculturalism , Jean E. Jackson examines the evolution of the Colombian indigenous movement over the course of her forty-plus years of research and fieldwork, offering unusually developed and nuanced insight into how indigenous communities and activists changed over time, as well as how she the ethnographer and scholar evolved in turn. The story of how indigenous organizing began, found its voice, established alliances, and won battles against the government and the Catholic Church has important implications for the indigenous cause internationally and for understanding all manner of rights organizing. Integrating case studies with commentaries on the movement's development, Jackson explores the politicization and deployment of multiculturalism, indigenous identity, and neoliberalism, as well as changing conceptions of cultural value and authenticity―including issues such as patrimony, heritage, and ethnic tourism. Both ethnography and recent history of the Latin American indigenous movement, this works traces the ideas motivating indigenous movements in regional and global relief, and with unprecedented breadth and depth.

328 pages, Paperback

Published February 12, 2019

Reviews

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Failing these reading quizzes but learned some things along the way!

[Don Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating review of 50y of field work and evolving understanding of indigenous people in southern Columbia and how the state has moved from hostility to welcome. Explores the difficulties of defining culture, who is indigenous, how to treat each people (Pueblo) with integrity when everyone changes constantly, and when should the state or neighbors intervene. Very self-deprecating and humble making a strong argument that we should all be so. A bit too much jargon. The words are simple enough but behind each jargon is a corpus of literature staking out a position of which the reader only sees the surface.

I may have missed a lot as I quickly read

[R · Rating 3 out of 5]

the portions of the broader panorama of Colombian indigeneity are deeply informative and I owe this book a lot of what I was able to write for my history fp. jackson is generally a good observer and fastidious historian and anthropologist, but I slightly resent how biased or obtuse she seemed at parts.