Indigenous Women's Appropriation and Redeployment of Human Rights: A Comparative Study of the Native Women's Association of Canada and K'inal Antsetik (Mexico)

• Author / Creator

  Pelletier Cisneros, Brigitte

• Recent studies have examined the roles and politics of human rights in relation to Indigenous peoples. An analysis of the negotiation of rights discourse by Indigenous women in a comparative framework is however lacking in critical scholarship. This study examines how Indigenous women in Canada and Mexico mobilize rights to challenge the cultural and systemic injustices they endure. With the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) and K'inal Antsetik (Mexico) as case studies, this study seeks to explore how Indigenous women in both places perceive and use human rights. The appropriation and redeployment of rights according to Shannon Speed et al.’s analysis is a useful tool for Indigenous women to apply this discourse to their local realities. A comparative analysis of Indigenous women’s organization’s use of human rights contributes to the establishment of a sustainable, effective and equitable framework and practice of human rights for Indigenous women in various contexts.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Redeployment
  • Taiaiake Alfred
  • Women
  • Human rights
  • Localization
  • Zapatista
  • Cooptation
  • Gender
  • Mexico
  • Ratna Kapur
  • Canada
  • Comparative
  • Indigenous
  • Shannon Speed
  • Appropriation
  • K'inal Antsetik
  • Native Women's Association of Canada
  • Assimilation
  • Race
  • Subversion

• Graduation date

  Fall 2014

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Arts

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3R08Q

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.