Miguel GonzálezMiguel González is at the International Development Studies Program, York University, 133 Founders College, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON, Canada M3J1P3 (Email: ).This paper offers an overview of indigenous territorial autonomy in Latin America, focusing on the various forms of recognition, legal characteristics, performance, and prospects in light of contemporary struggles of indigenous peoples in the region. The paper traces autonomy debates during the late 20th century and argues that interpretations about the origin, salience, and prospects of the autonomy demand rather than offer competing views complemented each other by stressing the convergence within indigenous social movements on the potential of autonomy as a platform of political, social, cultural, and territorial rights as well as an avenue for reconstituting the relationships between the state and indigenous peoples. Nevertheless, autonomy remains a contentious subject, at times illustrating substantial differences among indigenous organizations about its meaning, significance, and the best ways for realizing it. Recent constitutional reforms across the region, particularly in the Andean countries, show a new momentum for the inauguration of indigenous territorial autonomy. The paper observes that the current context is far from being conflict-free and that the developmentalist orientation, extractive-based economies which national governments across the region have endorsed, is threatening indigenous autonomy and potentially deems it irrelevant as a way for advancing indigenous rights.
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