The adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the United Nations General Assembly on 13 September 2007 was acclaimed as a major success for the United Nations system given the extent to which it consolidates and develops the international corpus of indigenous rights. This is the first in-depth academic analysis of this far-reaching instrument. Indigenous representatives have argued that the rights contained in the Declaration, and the processes by which it was formulated, obligate affected States to accept the validity of its provisions and its interpretation of contested concepts (such as 'culture', 'land', 'ownership' and 'self-determination'). This edited collection contains essays written by the main protagonists in the development of the Declaration; indigenous representatives; and field-leading academics. It offers a comprehensive institutional, thematic and regional analysis of the Declaration. In particular, it explores the Declaration's normative resonance for international law and considers the ways in which this international instrument could catalyse institutional action and influence the development of national laws and policies on indigenous issues.

About the Author
Stephen Allen is a Lecturer in Law at Brunel University.Alexandra Xanthaki is a Reader in Law and Deputy Head at Brunel Law School.

Table of Contents
SECTION A: INSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVES1. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Background and Appraisal Erica-Irene Daes2. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: From Advocacy to Implementation Julian Burger3. Integrating the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into CERD Practice Patrick Thornberry4. The International Labour Organization and the Internationalisation of the Concept of Indigenous Peoples Andrew Erueti5. Using the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Litigation Clive Baldwin and Cynthia MorelSECTION B: THEMATIC PERSPECTIVES6. Making the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Work: The Challenge Ahead Rodolfo Stavenhagen7. The Three Ironies of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples H Patrick Glenn8. Beyond the Indigenous/Minority Dichotomy? Will Kymlicka9. Voting in the General Assembly as Evidence of Customary International Law? Emmanuel Voyiakis10. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Limits of the International Legal Project Stephen AllenSECTION C: SUBSTANTIVE PERSPECTIVES11. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: New Directions for Self-Determination andParticipatory Rights? Helen Quane12. A New Dawn over the Land: Shedding Light on Collective Ownership and Consent Jeremie Gilbert and Cathal Doyle13. The Controversial Issue of Natural Resources: Balancing States' Sovereignty with IndigenousPeoples' Rights Stefania Errico14. Indigenous Rights and the Right to Development: Emerging Synergies or Collusion? Joshua Castellino15. Taking Cultural Rights Seriously: The Vision of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Elsa Stamatopoulou16. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Collective Rights: What's the Future forIndigenous Women? Alexandra Xanthaki17. Community Rights to Culture: The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Johanna GibsonSECTION D: REGIONAL PERSPECTIVES18. The Inter-American System and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Mutual Reinforcement Luis Rodriguez-Pinero19. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Africa: The Approach of the RegionalOrganisations to Indigenous Peoples Rachel Murray20. Reflections on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: An Arctic Perspective Dalee Sambo Dorough21. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Recent Developments regarding the Saami People of the North Malgosia Fitzmaurice22. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Indigenous Peoples as the Pawns in the US 'War on Terror' and the Jihad of Osama Bin Laden Javaid RehmanAPPENDIX: The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples