Indigenous peoples right to prior consultation and to informed consent represents the basis of the new global model shaping state-indigenous relations. Consultation processes promise to enable indigenous people to determine their own development and are especially promoted when extraction projects with significant socio-environmental impacts are planned on indigenous lands. In this article we draw on debates on participatory development in order to analyse the first state-led consultations in Bolivia?s and Peru?s hydrocarbon sectors (2007?14). The analysis shows that effective participation has been limited by (1) an absence of indigenous ownership of the processes; (2) indigenous groups? difficulties defending or even articulating their own visions and demands; and (3) limited or very general outcomes. The study identifies real-life challenges, such as power asymmetries, a ?communication hurdle? and appropriate timing ? as well as simplistic assumptions underlying the consultation approach ? that account for the unfulfilled promises of this new model
Unfulfilled Promises of the Consultation Approach: the Limits to Effective Indigenous Participation in Bolivias and Perus Extractive Industries
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Indigenous Peoples and Consent