IPSA Welcomes Research Committee (RC53) on Indigenous Politics

IPSA is pleased to announce the formation of a new Research Committee (RC), RC53 - Indigenous Politics, which will focus on political science analyses of indigenous self-determination and politics, and the promotion of indigenous scholarship.

In recent decades, there has been increasing mainstream awareness of indigenous people’s rights to self-determination in many parts of the world. At the same time, we see increasing scholarly interest in the study of Indigenous politics.

An IPSA RC on indigenous politics will facilitate the study of indigenous politics in political science and provide a base to expand indigenous worldviews and philosophies as alternative venues within modern political science. An IPSA RC on indigenous politics will create a permanent hub for communication, collaboration, and deliberation for a sustainable international community of scholars of Indigenous politics.

This new RC will be a natural fit for collaboration with other IPSA RCs, but also between IPSA and its national political science associations, as well as specialist organizations.
The themes and perspectives of indigenous politics will incorporate multiple empirical fields, methods, and perspectives. The key areas of interest of scholars currently in the RC have potential to - over time - develop into thematic streams within the RC and will include: 

• Indigenous self-governance and colonial recognition;
• Indigenous mobilization and organization;
• Indigenous representation;
• Climate change and Indigenous peoples;
• Development projects and Indigenous consultations;
• Indigenous perspectives, concepts, and methodologies;
• Supporting the representation of Indigenous scholars in political science.

The main goals of the RC may be summed up as to:

1) Set forth indigenous politics as an important, independent topic within political science;
2) Establish a supportive environment for indigenous scholars;
3) Facilitate communication, academic deliberation, networking opportunities, and the building of research collaborations within the area of Indigenous politics;
4) Organize and facilitate indigenous scholarship at IPSA World Congress.

The new RC plans to hold its inaugural meeting at the 2023 IPSA World Congress in Buenos Aires.

To find out more about the RC53, please visit:
https://www.ipsa.org/research-committees/rclist/RC53.

If you wish to be added to the mailing list, get involved in RC53 activities, or have a question about the Research Committee, please feel free to email one of the co-chairs, Lara Greaves, at lara.greaves@vuw.ac.nz or Mette Marie Staehr Harder at mm.harder@kau.se.