Land Policy in South America: Balancing Indigenous Demands and Neoliberal Economic Development

Abstract

This project broadly explores how governments mediate between competing interests in the formation of policy. The 1990s saw the increased prominence of indigenous mobilization and neoliberal economic restructuring programs throughout Latin America. Land policy was of crucial importance for both trends, yet the desired form of these policies was drastically different. This exploratory project seeks to describe and explain cross-national variation in the convergence of neoliberal and indigenous conceptions of land into constitutional and regulatory frameworks in South America. Based on preliminary case studies, I argue that despite remarkable similarity in the demands of indigenous activists across South America, the extent to which these demands were incorporated into land policy is strongly determined by the broader political agenda. Additional case studies are required to explore the conditions under which demands are incorporated despite unfavorable political agendas.

Keywords: land policy, Latin America, indigenous mobilization, neoliberal economic policy