Cluster Concepts: Workshop: Adriana Rodríguez and Anna Pedrolli, ‘Interculturality, Plurilingualism and Collective Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Ecuador’

“Interculturalism is not just about recognising differences, but also about changing power dynamics. It requires concrete legal, political or social measures aimed at bringing about change.”
On 2 June, Adriana Rodríguez and Anna Pedrolli held a workshop on the topic of ‘Interculturalism, multilingualism and the collective rights of indigenous peoples in Ecuador’.
In the first part of the workshop, Rodríguez and Pedrolli presented theoretical approaches and concepts such as ‘interculturalism’, ‘plurinationalism’ and ‘collective rights’.
They also presented concepts specific to the Ecuadorian context, such as ‘Sumak Kawsay’ and the extension of human rights to non-human subjects, i.e. the rights of nature.
Alongside the theoretical framework, they presented the case of ‘The Tagaeri and Taromenane Indigenous Peoples v. Ecuador’ before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, as well as the ‘Song of the Cedars’, as examples and points for discussion within Ecuadorian law.
Finally, Rodríguez and Pedrolli reflected on Ecuador’s legal framework, focusing in particular on the rights of indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation, as well as on nature as a legal entity.
They also addressed the threats facing both these peoples and nature, such as the extraction of raw materials, displacement and expropriation.
As a final exercise, workshop participants were asked to review and redraft the Austrian Constitution in order to create a more intercultural legal basis.