Indigenous Peoples and the Law
About the Book Series
The colonial modalities which resulted in the pillaging of the ‘New World’ involved wholesale dispossession, genocidal violence and exploitation of their original inhabitants. It was not, however, until the latter part of the twentieth century that Indigenous peoples attained some degree of legal recognition. This book series focuses upon the manner in which Indigenous peoples’ experiences of law have been transformed from an oppressive system of denying rights to a site of contestation and the articulation of various forms of self-governance. Encouraging a range of theoretical, political and ethical perspectives on Indigenous peoples and the law, this book series aims to provide a comprehensive survey of the experience of Indigenous peoples and their changing relationship with national and international juridical frameworks.
The series will include both monographs and edited collections pursuing variety a of perspectives – including, but not limited to, a concern with:
- Law as a mechanism of power/knowledge: that is, the discursive and biopolitical strategies of Conquest, Settlement, and Empire – with a particular interest in how the juridical was deployed to validate land appropriation in the ‘New World’ and European colonies. This might include consideration of the influence of the writings of Vattel, Blackstone, Sepulveda, Vittoria, las Casas and others in framing Indigenous populations and their lands as supposedly amenable to colonization.
- The role of law in authorising oppression, dispossession and genocide in the colonial period, and how such juridical moments continue to shape relations between Indigenous peoples and the State. This might include consideration of: specific governmental policies and legislation that allowed for forced removal of Indigenous children; appropriation of Indigenous lands; the imposition of regimes of control through government reserves and missions; and/or the role of treaties in providing legal justification for the dispossession of Indigenous peoples.
- Contemporary issues that confront Indigenous peoples in their dealings with law in the global present. This might include consideration of: disputes relating to resource extraction; access to justice and over-representation in the criminal justice system; cultural heritage and intellectual property claims; the recognition of Indigenous laws; land rights; the belated recognition of Indigenous rights in both ‘new’ constitutions and in international law; and/or sovereignty.
If you are interested in submitting a proposal for the series, please contact:
Mark Harris
The University of British Columbia
or
Colin Perrin
Routledge
2 Park Square
Milton Park
Abingdon
Oxon
OX14 4RN
Nomadic Indigenous Peoples and the Law: Self-Determination, Land Rights and Gender Justice in India
1st Edition
By Indrani Sigamany
July 22, 2025
This book investigates the unique challenges faced by nomadic Indigenous peoples in claiming self-determination and rights to their ancestral lands. Nomadic or mobile Indigenous peoples have been largely ignored in the wider context of Indigenous land rights, but such groups are often even more ...
Indigenous Cultural Property and International Law: Restitution, Rights and Wrongs
1st Edition
By Shea Elizabeth Esterling
April 14, 2025
Examining the restitution of cultural property to Indigenous Peoples in human rights law, this book offers a detailed analysis of the opportunities and constraints of international law as a tool of resistance and social transformation for marginalized groups. In accordance with an increasing ...
Indigenous Governance of Traditional Knowledge: The Legal Implementation of Access and Benefit-Sharing in Australia
1st Edition
By Neva Collings
April 14, 2025
This book addresses the issue of Indigenous peoples' participation in genetic resource access and benefit-sharing and associated traditional knowledge for self-determination. Genetic resources from nature are increasingly used in global biodiscovery research and development, but they often use ...
State Apologies to Indigenous Peoples: Law, Politics, Ethics
1st Edition
By Francesca Dominello
August 19, 2024
This book considers the ethics and politics of state apologies made to Indigenous peoples. The prevalent tendency to treat an apology as a speech act has maintained the focus on the state leader making the apology and not on the victims’ claims. This book demonstrates the inherent shortcomings of ...
Criminal Convictions in U.S. Tribal Law: Collateral Consequences, Pardons, and Expungements in Indian Country
1st Edition
By Andrew Novak
August 02, 2024
This book is the first comparative law study of collateral consequences of criminal conviction in all federally recognized Indian tribes in the lower 48 U.S. states, and the mechanisms for restoring civil rights in tribal law. Surveying the constitutions, codes, and ordinances of tribal ...
Indigenous Peoples in the International Arena: The Global Movement for Self-Determination
1st Edition
By Elsa Stamatopoulou
July 12, 2024
This book provides a definitive account of the creation and rise of the international Indigenous Peoples’ movement. In the late 1970s, motivated by their dire situation and local struggles, and inspired by worldwide movements for social justice and decolonization, including the American civil ...
Indigenous Peoples, Marine Space and Resources, and International Law: The Interaction Between International Human Rights Law and the Law of the Sea
1st Edition
By Endalew Lijalem Enyew
February 26, 2024
This book addresses the rights of indigenous peoples to marine space and associated marine resources under international law. Examining the rights of indigenous peoples relating to marine space and marine resources both in international human rights law and the law of the sea, the book provides an ...
Constitutionalism of Australian First Nations: A Comparative Study
1st Edition
By Maria Salvatrice Randazzo
January 29, 2024
The book considers Australian First Nations constitutionalism by drawing on the chthonic constitutional traditions of three distinct Australian First Nations legal orders: the Warlpiri, Yolngu, and Pintupi legal orders, in the endeavour of identifying, via a comparative analysis, a core of ...
Indigenous Reconciliation and Decolonization: Narratives of Social Justice and Community Engagement
1st Edition
Edited
By Ranjan Datta
August 01, 2022
This book addresses the ethical and practical issues at stake in the reconciliation of Indigenous and non-indigenous communities. An increasing number of researchers, educators, and social and environmental activists are eager to find ways to effectively support ongoing attempts to recognize, ...
Socio-Legal Struggles for Indigenous Self-Determination in Latin America: Reimagining the Nation, Reinventing the State
1st Edition
By Roger Merino
May 27, 2021
This book is an interdisciplinary study of struggles for indigenous self-determination and the recognition of indigenous’ territorial rights in Latin America. Studies of indigenous peoples’ opposition to extractive industries have tended to focus on its economic, political or social aspects, as if...
Decolonizing Law: Indigenous, Third World and Settler Perspectives
1st Edition
Edited
By Sujith Xavier, Beverley Jacobs, Valarie Waboose, Jeffery G. Hewitt, Amar Bhatia
May 25, 2021
This book brings together Indigenous, Third World and Settler perspectives on the theory and practice of decolonizing law. Colonialism, imperialism, and settler colonialism continue to affect the lives of racialized communities and Indigenous Peoples around the world. Law, in its many iterations, ...
Indigenous Courts, Self-Determination and Criminal Justice
1st Edition
By Valmaine Toki
July 31, 2020
In New Zealand, as well as in Australia, Canada and other comparable jurisdictions, Indigenous peoples comprise a significantly disproportionate percentage of the prison population. For example, Maori, who comprise 15% of New Zealand’s population, make up 50% of its prisoners. For Maori women, the ...