Indigenous People, Law, and Politics in Peru

Abstract

"Indigenous people and the law is a relatively new and fascinating topic in Andean studies. In the last fifteen years, an increasing number of investigators have begun to investigate the use of national law by indigenous people, and, more recently, interest in indigenous and peasant law has also increased. The results of this research by historians, anthropologists, and legal scholars have now provided sufficient information to permit the elaboration of a preliminary theoretical framework for understanding the use of legal mechanisms by indigenous people in the Andes. This paper proposes such a framework based on an historical structural analysis of modes of conflict resolution employed by indigenous communities and their members in Peru between 1821 and 1968. It identifies the major variables that affected indigenous conflict resolution in this period and advances a series of hypotheses about the major interrelationships between these variables. Finally, given that research on these topics is still in its preliminary stages, a number of suggestions are made regarding fruitful avenues for future research."