Towards an Adequate Protection of the Rights of Indigenous Communities: A Literature Review of Proposals and Contributions from 2017 to 2022

Abstract

The rights of indigenous communities have been the subject of research from different angles of knowledge, covering historical, social, political and normative aspects, addressed from theoretical approaches. However, this topic is often not investigated as a primary object, but as a secondary variable in relation to other factors such as education, production, health and economy, which has limited its role as "fundamental rights of indigenous peoples". For this reason, the objective of this article is to provide a comprehensive overview of the research available in the Scopus and Web of Science databases between 2017 and 2022 and to critically analyze the evidence that demonstrates how the regulatory framework and the promotion of greater active participation of Indigenous Communities can contribute to the effective protection of their rights and resources in situations of natural resource exploitation and industrial projects. As a result of the analysis, it became evident that the main topics investigated are those that deepen the normative nature of indigenous communities, as well as the importance of dialogue and their participation in decision making. Likewise, proposals and contributions related to these topics were identified with a high frequency.