ASEAN 271-IP

Course Title: Country Study [Indigenous Peoples in the ASEAN Region]

Prerequisites: None

Number of Units: 3

Course Description: Issues affecting Indigenous Peoples and Cultural Communities and their role in the development of the ASEAN region

Course Objectives: 

At the end of the course, the students should be able to:
1. Describe the various approaches and perspectives in understanding indigenous peoples;
2. Understand the dynamic between indigenous peoples and the state in southeast Asia;
3. Appreciate indigenous knowledge systems and practices as sources of insights for development;
4. Understand the historical context of contemporary issues and problems confronting indigenous peoples in the ASEAN region.

Course Outline:

Unit I: Approaches and Perspectives in Understanding Indigenous Peoples
Module 1: Identifying indigenous peoples as ‘ethnic minorities’ in southeast Asia:
Module 2: What’s in a term?: tribe, clan, ethnic minorities, cultural communities, ethno-linguistic groups, indigenous peoples.

Unit II: Indigenous Peoples and the State
Module 3. State policies and IP responses: (1) Colonial policies; (2) Post-colonial policies
Module 4. Legal recognition, self-identification and assertion, customary claims vis a vis the state
Module 5. The indigenous peoples’ movement in southeast Asia: actors, advocacies, strategies

Unit III: Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices of Indigenous Peoples and Communities
Environmental governance, Health management, engineering designs, dispute
settlement

Unit IV: Contemporary Issues and Problems Confronting Indigenous Peoples in the ASEAN region
Module 6. Cultural survival
Module 7. IP rights and Human rights
Module 8. Globalization and sustainable development
Module 9. Ethnic conflicts
Module 10. Governance, political autonomy, and self-determination