Stener Ekern - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Stener Ekern
Human rights in developing countries, 1997
Journal of Latin American Studies, Aug 1, 2011
Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales. CLACSO eBooks, 2016
Duke University Press eBooks, 2008
International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, 2006
... Saving the Forest Through Human Rights: Indigenous Rights and Ethnic Tension in Guatemala ...... more ... Saving the Forest Through Human Rights: Indigenous Rights and Ethnic Tension in Guatemala ... peaceful world, and all over the globe there are thousands of institutions and persons ... for examining local conditions and measuring the impact of outside intervention, and likewise ...
Nordic Journal of Human Rights, Jan 2, 2023
Journal of Latin American Studies, May 1, 2010
Journal of Latin American Studies, Mar 29, 2017
Nordic Journal of Human Rights, Oct 1, 2016
ABSTRACT Much discussion about human rights and indigenous peoples centres on the asymmetric rela... more ABSTRACT Much discussion about human rights and indigenous peoples centres on the asymmetric relations between vulnerable groups and powerful states. This is so not least in Guatemala, where different Mayan-speaking groups live in the aftermath of a brutal war even as the country goes through a peace process underpinned by human rights considerations. However, the associated focus on relations and group rights comes at the cost of overlooking the reservoir of human experience that an indigenous society also is. This article discusses these asymmetric societal relations; however, the departure point is an investigation into how the K'iche' Mayas – the largest of the around twenty Mayan-speaking peoples of Guatemala – imagine good life and good government as compared to ideas about good government and ethical lives in a human rights perspective. Whereas human rights can be seen as a guarantor for the autonomy an individual human being needs, the key Mayan concepts in this regard are awas and nimanik, respectively “lack of respect” and “respect”, for the sacred paths human and nature must follow in order to minimise sickness and pain. And the most important path is the path of the community. This article offers insight into the moral-political traditions of an indigenous people. The findings in this article suggest that less asymmetric relations can be ensured by building a human rights framework which incorporates concepts from local philosophies, in order to include all the elements a multicultural society must rely on to respect, protect and fulfil human rights.
Human rights in developing countries, 1998
Brill | Nijhoff eBooks, 1998
On 17 October 1992, as a consultant to the Commission on the Truth for El Salvador, I visited the... more On 17 October 1992, as a consultant to the Commission on the Truth for El Salvador, I visited the village of Corinto to collect stories of 'grave cases of violence'. Situated in the remote and poor province of Morazán, Corinto is as far as it gets from the central areas of this Central American republic. But the war-i.e., El Salvador's civil war between 1980 and 1990-had taken its toll also up here in the peasant-dominated rocky uplands. I remember the trip well, in a UN-provided jeep, two consultants and a driver, on ever poorer roads through lush, green scenery that became progressively drier as the road climbed. Halfway up the hills, we made a stop at a place known as 'Burnt Car' (Carro Quemado), which was where a battle between the army and the guerrillas had taken place ten years earlier. After the battle, the road remained closed for several days to clear it of heaps of blackened and twisted metal. The episode had left memories strong enough to rename a stretch of the road. Burnt Car spoke about much suffering but also, for visiting Europeans, it told a story about a war that looked like a real war, with organised groups fighting for territorial positions. In Corinto, we were received by a local lawyer. The trip had been arranged after he had visited our regional truth commission office, a week earlier, in the town of San Miguel down in the lowlands. The lawyer had given us his testimony regarding four extrajudicial killings and added that the violent events he reported were of general knowledge in Corinto. There were also many other similar stories so if we could come and collect them he would be happy to serve. Given that few people came to see us at the regional truth commission office, we decided to go to Corinto the following week. During that day in Corinto, the two of us received twelve testimonies. We followed our instructions and duly noted down the names of the victims, the relevant category of violence (in this case torture and extrajudicial killing), the names of the perpetrators (if known) and their institutional affiliation, if any. Thus, a typical testimony reads: "On 15 October 1980, two men from the Civil Defence (Defensa Civil) of Corinto captured and assassinated, in this same village, the gentlemen NV and ES. NV was 45 years old, originally from the hamlet of Corralito, in the municipality of Corinto, where he lived and worked until May 1980, as a farmer and a day labourer. He was married and had nine children. In May he
Journal of Genocide Research, Dec 1, 2010
Journal of Latin American Studies, Feb 1, 2011
The Mayan Indians of Guatemala share the burdens of local government by taking on a set of public... more The Mayan Indians of Guatemala share the burdens of local government by taking on a set of public duties, thereby maintaining community cohesion as well as political autonomy. This article analyses recent changes in this cargo system in a context defined by development, new representations of ' Mayanness ', and multicultural politics. It shows how sovereignty-grounded in a distinct philosophy of leadership that generates meaningful self-rule-is crucial in facilitating political transformation towards more democratic arrangements at the cost of rule by the elders.
El movimiento maya en la década después de la paz (1997-2007) (compiladores: Santiago Basos y Roddy Brett.Eds: , 2010
Norwegian social thought on Latin America, 2016
Nordic Journal of Human Rights, 2016
ABSTRACT Much discussion about human rights and indigenous peoples centres on the asymmetric rela... more ABSTRACT Much discussion about human rights and indigenous peoples centres on the asymmetric relations between vulnerable groups and powerful states. This is so not least in Guatemala, where different Mayan-speaking groups live in the aftermath of a brutal war even as the country goes through a peace process underpinned by human rights considerations. However, the associated focus on relations and group rights comes at the cost of overlooking the reservoir of human experience that an indigenous society also is. This article discusses these asymmetric societal relations; however, the departure point is an investigation into how the K'iche' Mayas – the largest of the around twenty Mayan-speaking peoples of Guatemala – imagine good life and good government as compared to ideas about good government and ethical lives in a human rights perspective. Whereas human rights can be seen as a guarantor for the autonomy an individual human being needs, the key Mayan concepts in this regard are awas and nimanik, respectively “lack of respect” and “respect”, for the sacred paths human and nature must follow in order to minimise sickness and pain. And the most important path is the path of the community. This article offers insight into the moral-political traditions of an indigenous people. The findings in this article suggest that less asymmetric relations can be ensured by building a human rights framework which incorporates concepts from local philosophies, in order to include all the elements a multicultural society must rely on to respect, protect and fulfil human rights.
The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law, 2018
This article discusses indigenous autonomy and legal pluralism in Guatemala. It explores how loca... more This article discusses indigenous autonomy and legal pluralism in Guatemala. It explores how local governing practices are increasingly being based on written, constitution-like statutes with an emergent focus on "rights", replacing oral traditions focussed on relations. It argues that notwithstanding this great change, communal authorities continue to function as a principal medium for articulating indigenous sovereignty by appropriating a vital piece of modern nation-state imagery: constitutional law. This transformation of local political practices also shows how a long tradition with legal pluralism in Guatemala is maintained thanks to the continuing ordering capacity of the communal authorities. Building a successful, multicultural Guatemala hinges as much on the ability of communal power to reinvent itself as on nation-state legal reform.
Human rights in developing countries, 1997
Journal of Latin American Studies, Aug 1, 2011
Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales. CLACSO eBooks, 2016
Duke University Press eBooks, 2008
International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, 2006
... Saving the Forest Through Human Rights: Indigenous Rights and Ethnic Tension in Guatemala ...... more ... Saving the Forest Through Human Rights: Indigenous Rights and Ethnic Tension in Guatemala ... peaceful world, and all over the globe there are thousands of institutions and persons ... for examining local conditions and measuring the impact of outside intervention, and likewise ...
Nordic Journal of Human Rights, Jan 2, 2023
Journal of Latin American Studies, May 1, 2010
Journal of Latin American Studies, Mar 29, 2017
Nordic Journal of Human Rights, Oct 1, 2016
ABSTRACT Much discussion about human rights and indigenous peoples centres on the asymmetric rela... more ABSTRACT Much discussion about human rights and indigenous peoples centres on the asymmetric relations between vulnerable groups and powerful states. This is so not least in Guatemala, where different Mayan-speaking groups live in the aftermath of a brutal war even as the country goes through a peace process underpinned by human rights considerations. However, the associated focus on relations and group rights comes at the cost of overlooking the reservoir of human experience that an indigenous society also is. This article discusses these asymmetric societal relations; however, the departure point is an investigation into how the K'iche' Mayas – the largest of the around twenty Mayan-speaking peoples of Guatemala – imagine good life and good government as compared to ideas about good government and ethical lives in a human rights perspective. Whereas human rights can be seen as a guarantor for the autonomy an individual human being needs, the key Mayan concepts in this regard are awas and nimanik, respectively “lack of respect” and “respect”, for the sacred paths human and nature must follow in order to minimise sickness and pain. And the most important path is the path of the community. This article offers insight into the moral-political traditions of an indigenous people. The findings in this article suggest that less asymmetric relations can be ensured by building a human rights framework which incorporates concepts from local philosophies, in order to include all the elements a multicultural society must rely on to respect, protect and fulfil human rights.
Human rights in developing countries, 1998
Brill | Nijhoff eBooks, 1998
On 17 October 1992, as a consultant to the Commission on the Truth for El Salvador, I visited the... more On 17 October 1992, as a consultant to the Commission on the Truth for El Salvador, I visited the village of Corinto to collect stories of 'grave cases of violence'. Situated in the remote and poor province of Morazán, Corinto is as far as it gets from the central areas of this Central American republic. But the war-i.e., El Salvador's civil war between 1980 and 1990-had taken its toll also up here in the peasant-dominated rocky uplands. I remember the trip well, in a UN-provided jeep, two consultants and a driver, on ever poorer roads through lush, green scenery that became progressively drier as the road climbed. Halfway up the hills, we made a stop at a place known as 'Burnt Car' (Carro Quemado), which was where a battle between the army and the guerrillas had taken place ten years earlier. After the battle, the road remained closed for several days to clear it of heaps of blackened and twisted metal. The episode had left memories strong enough to rename a stretch of the road. Burnt Car spoke about much suffering but also, for visiting Europeans, it told a story about a war that looked like a real war, with organised groups fighting for territorial positions. In Corinto, we were received by a local lawyer. The trip had been arranged after he had visited our regional truth commission office, a week earlier, in the town of San Miguel down in the lowlands. The lawyer had given us his testimony regarding four extrajudicial killings and added that the violent events he reported were of general knowledge in Corinto. There were also many other similar stories so if we could come and collect them he would be happy to serve. Given that few people came to see us at the regional truth commission office, we decided to go to Corinto the following week. During that day in Corinto, the two of us received twelve testimonies. We followed our instructions and duly noted down the names of the victims, the relevant category of violence (in this case torture and extrajudicial killing), the names of the perpetrators (if known) and their institutional affiliation, if any. Thus, a typical testimony reads: "On 15 October 1980, two men from the Civil Defence (Defensa Civil) of Corinto captured and assassinated, in this same village, the gentlemen NV and ES. NV was 45 years old, originally from the hamlet of Corralito, in the municipality of Corinto, where he lived and worked until May 1980, as a farmer and a day labourer. He was married and had nine children. In May he
Journal of Genocide Research, Dec 1, 2010
Journal of Latin American Studies, Feb 1, 2011
The Mayan Indians of Guatemala share the burdens of local government by taking on a set of public... more The Mayan Indians of Guatemala share the burdens of local government by taking on a set of public duties, thereby maintaining community cohesion as well as political autonomy. This article analyses recent changes in this cargo system in a context defined by development, new representations of ' Mayanness ', and multicultural politics. It shows how sovereignty-grounded in a distinct philosophy of leadership that generates meaningful self-rule-is crucial in facilitating political transformation towards more democratic arrangements at the cost of rule by the elders.
El movimiento maya en la década después de la paz (1997-2007) (compiladores: Santiago Basos y Roddy Brett.Eds: , 2010
Norwegian social thought on Latin America, 2016
Nordic Journal of Human Rights, 2016
ABSTRACT Much discussion about human rights and indigenous peoples centres on the asymmetric rela... more ABSTRACT Much discussion about human rights and indigenous peoples centres on the asymmetric relations between vulnerable groups and powerful states. This is so not least in Guatemala, where different Mayan-speaking groups live in the aftermath of a brutal war even as the country goes through a peace process underpinned by human rights considerations. However, the associated focus on relations and group rights comes at the cost of overlooking the reservoir of human experience that an indigenous society also is. This article discusses these asymmetric societal relations; however, the departure point is an investigation into how the K'iche' Mayas – the largest of the around twenty Mayan-speaking peoples of Guatemala – imagine good life and good government as compared to ideas about good government and ethical lives in a human rights perspective. Whereas human rights can be seen as a guarantor for the autonomy an individual human being needs, the key Mayan concepts in this regard are awas and nimanik, respectively “lack of respect” and “respect”, for the sacred paths human and nature must follow in order to minimise sickness and pain. And the most important path is the path of the community. This article offers insight into the moral-political traditions of an indigenous people. The findings in this article suggest that less asymmetric relations can be ensured by building a human rights framework which incorporates concepts from local philosophies, in order to include all the elements a multicultural society must rely on to respect, protect and fulfil human rights.
The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law, 2018
This article discusses indigenous autonomy and legal pluralism in Guatemala. It explores how loca... more This article discusses indigenous autonomy and legal pluralism in Guatemala. It explores how local governing practices are increasingly being based on written, constitution-like statutes with an emergent focus on "rights", replacing oral traditions focussed on relations. It argues that notwithstanding this great change, communal authorities continue to function as a principal medium for articulating indigenous sovereignty by appropriating a vital piece of modern nation-state imagery: constitutional law. This transformation of local political practices also shows how a long tradition with legal pluralism in Guatemala is maintained thanks to the continuing ordering capacity of the communal authorities. Building a successful, multicultural Guatemala hinges as much on the ability of communal power to reinvent itself as on nation-state legal reform.