The ongoing debate in Canadian and Australian societies about the meaning of multiculturalism and the associated discussion of belonging, citizenship and national culture cannot be divorced from...Show moreThe ongoing debate in Canadian and Australian societies about the meaning of multiculturalism and the associated discussion of belonging, citizenship and national culture cannot be divorced from the consideration of a major social element in both societies: the original inhabitants of the territories prior to their colonization by the European settlers. This group of people, which over the course of the national histories of these two countries was reduced to the status of minority on its own ancestral land , has since the early 1960s demonstrated increased agency by mounting a campaign of political, cultural, economic and social mobilization to reclaim its rights, most notably through the recognition of sovereignty, and to re-negotiate its relationship with the settler majority societies. The outcome of this mobilization is often portrayed in an interesting account that shows Canada to have gone further than Australia in the accommodation of indigenous rights and the righting of the historical injustices towards them. This thesis will be an attempt to reassess the veracity of this portrayal through a comparative study of the struggle for indigenous rights in both countries.Show less
The Mapuche are the largest indigenous community in Chile and they speak their own language, Mapudungun. Unfortunately, over the course of history, the Mapuche have experienced many hardships,...Show moreThe Mapuche are the largest indigenous community in Chile and they speak their own language, Mapudungun. Unfortunately, over the course of history, the Mapuche have experienced many hardships, especially in relation to the Chilean state. One of these hardships is the gradual loss of their language in favour of Spanish. This development can be seen through the fact that younger generations stop to speak the language and that Spanish is taking over the traditional use of Mapudungun in family affairs and ceremonial situations. Therefore, and in order to compensate for the historical debt that the Chilean state has with the Mapuche, the government implemented a Bilingual Intercultural Education Programme in 1996. Additionally, this is a good example of a method of revitalisation, which could help reverse the existing language shift. However, the programme in its current state has a lot of deficiencies, making it unsuccessful in achieving its objective. Consequently, this thesis will argue for the improvement of the programme, in order to increase its contribution in revitalising Mapudungun and to prevent the possible extinction of the language. The previous is important in the scope of the demands for rights of self-determination for which the Mapuche have struggled throughout history.Show less
Bachelor thesis | South and Southeast Asian Studies (BA)
open access
2018-08-31T00:00:00Z
The year 2018 marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Suharto regime. likewise, it marks the reawakening of customary rights (adat) in Indonesian politics. In this thesis, I aim to place two...Show moreThe year 2018 marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Suharto regime. likewise, it marks the reawakening of customary rights (adat) in Indonesian politics. In this thesis, I aim to place two of Indonesia's main seafaring communities, namely: the Orang Suku Laut and the Sama Bajau, in the debate surrounding this revival of tradition in Indonesian politics. In the first chapter, I analyse how the history of the Sama and the Orang Laut have positioned these communities in the Indonesian society, and whether or not stereotypes surrounding their communities have made it more difficult for them to profit from the recognition of customary rights. In chapter 2, I draw parallels between the Sama and the Orang Laut in the ways that their nomadic lifestyle has resulted in intangible forms of culture, making it harder for them to assert claims over territory. In this chapter I also show how their distinct cultural and religious identity contribute to their marginal status Indonesia. In the last chapter, I argue that Indonesia's sea nomads partial inability to participate in the reassertion of customary rights is rooted in a multitude of factors, including: the hegemony of environmental motives surrounding customary rights' advocacy groups, the difficulty of claiming ownership over land, and civil rights under the pressure of statelessness, and the difficulty of affirming sea-based and coastal territory in land disputes under the hegemony of regional developmentalism. I stress the difference between their respective territories, which presents each community with a distinct adversary in their struggle for the recognition of customary land rights.Show less
