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At the Margins of Globalization and Indigenous Peoples and International Trade are remarkable in the sense that only few texts have successfully undertaken any meaningful and comprehensive analyses, from a multidimensional perspective, of the situation of indigenous peoples within the context of global economic development and international trade and investment law. The pertinence of the many critical issues explored by Sergio Puig in At the Margins of Globalization, and Jon Burrows and Risa Schwartz in Indigenous Peoples and International Trade, in terms of facilitating greater understanding about the connectedness of the fields of global economic development, trade, and investment with indigenous peoples’ rights, and the implications brought about by such connection, cannot be overstated. This review therefore interrogates not only how the issues explored in the two books significantly contribute to the framing of discussions about the indigenous peoples’ participation in the market space, but also how those discussions fit into the larger discussion regarding how to improve the sociocultural and economic conditions of indigenous peoples and other marginalized populations.

In recent years, indigenous groups from every corner of the world have become enlightened about the platform of indigenous human rights 1 as distinct sets of enforceable privileges by which they may, collectively as a societal unit, assert their basic human rights and ensure the socio-cultural survival and economic sustenance of their communities. In light of this development, there have been increases in debates at different domestic forums due to demands being made by many indigenous communities for greater engagement in terms of their participation in decision-making processes concerning matters that affect their domain. Many have rightly pointed out that one of the most common problems facing indigenous peoples throughout the world today is the lack of adequate implementation of good faith consultation before the making of decisions or carrying out projects that may affect territories of indigenous peoples. This problem is even more severe in less-developed regions of the world, such as Africa, where there are very thin bodies of constitutional and regulatory support