Indigenous Movements in Latin America

Indigenous resistance has been a central aspect of Latin American history since the Spanish invasion, and in the late twentieth century, indigenous movements emerged as one of the most significant social actors in the region. This was related to the collapse of leftist class-based politics as well as the use of extreme state violence against the indigenous in the context of civil wars and other struggles. Correspondingly, scholarship on the indigenous has shifted in focus from issues of cultural extinction and survival to the relationship of indigenous movements to nation-states, transnational networks, issues internal to indigenous movements, and methodological challenges. Keywords: ethnicity and culture; nations and peoples; Native American; gender; indigenous rights; movements; multiculturalism; regional movements; rights; state; Central America; South America