Indigenous development alternatives: An urban youth perspective from Bolivia

Indigenous peoples are often portrayed as living in isolated rural areas and pristine natural settings. Yet, throughout the world, indigenous peoples are increasingly affected by urbanization. Indigenous peoples either move from the countryside to cities or their rural lands are transformed by urban expansion. 40 percent of the world's indigenous population lived in urban areas in 2010, with numbers set to rise to more than 60 percent by 2020.

More than half of the world's urban indigenous population can be classified as young people, ranging between ages 16 and 25.

Within urban areas, indigenous youth are often trapped in poverty, confronted by discrimination and excluded from employment and education opportunities. They are also excluded from indigenous rights movements, which predominantly focus on rural areas. Urban indigenous youths, therefore, represent the marginalized among an already historically marginalized group.

And yet, indigenous youths are not passive victims. They confront problems of exclusion and marginalization in their everyday political struggles. Little is known, however, on whether urban youth activism promotes indigenous development alternatives, defined here as knowledge and practices that break intra-/ inter-ethnic inequalities and provide ideas for more sustainable urban futures.

This project addresses this gap through examining the dynamic interactions of urbanization, youth activism and indigenous development alternatives. It explores the driving forces contributing to the urbanization of indigenous peoples, with particular emphasis on youth; describes the lived realities of indigenous youth living in distinct urban settings; investigates indigenous development alternatives put forward by activist youth groups; and assesses the extent to which practitioners address and integrate the interests, needs and priorities of indigenous youth into policy and planning interventions.

The project focuses on Bolivia, a country with a particularly large and diverse indigenous population which is predominantly young and urban. The PI has worked over the last five years with indigenous communities in this country and established trustful relationships with indigenous youth groups and support organisations. Building on existing partnerships, the project develops a new tradition of youth participatory action research which involves indigenous youth in all stages of the research, following primarily their interests and priorities.

The project focuses on four case studies within Bolivia which represent different urban settings, including the cities of El Alto and Santa Cruz, peri-urban neighbourhoods in Sucre, and the urbanizing Amazon region. It also investigates different yet interconnected examples of youth activism which seek to promote pathways for indigenous development alternatives centring around a variety of topics, including:

- indigenous identity and organisational change; - anti-displacement struggles; - gender equality; - land management, housing, governance and sustainable business models.

Taken together, the case studies capture the complexity and diversity of indigenous development alternatives put forward by youth activists. Through national, regional and global knowledge exchanges, findings will be shared with indigenous youth and relevant stakeholder groups. Findings will also be positioned within wider academic and policy debates on the urbanisation of indigenous peoples and their territories.

The research will disrupt rural and essential images of indigenous development through an urban youth perspective. By focusing on indigenous development alternatives, the project intends to highlight pathways for the promotion of more inclusive and just urban societies in which no indigenous person, independent of age, gender or location of residence, is left behind. The project thereby addresses key development priorities outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals.