New publication by Isabel Inguanzo in the journal Territory, Politics, Governance.

“Autonomy of Indigenous peoples in the Federation of Malaysia: a tale of three institutional settings”

Abstract
Previous research has offered mixed results regarding whether federalism and other mechanisms of multilevel governance (MLG) present advantages or disadvantages for civil society and, in particular, impoverish ethnic minorities. Since self-determination is a key element of the political autonomy of Indigenous peoples (IPs), this paper explores under which circumstances different mechanisms of MLG foster the rights of IPs in the Federation of Malaysia from the perspective of Indigenous activists. This work relies on face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with Indigenous activists, advocates and stakeholders from different states of the federation, with different levels of self-government and quality of democracy. The main findings suggest that any attempt to evaluate the performance of MLG arrangements in the fulfilment of the rights of IPs should consider the relationship between Indigenous organizations and state and local governments – a relationship that depends on the distribution of Indigenous populations – and the degree of political accountability in specific territories.

Read it here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21622671.2022.2056077