Working Papers
The Harvard Kennedy School Project on Indigenous Governance and Development Working Paper Series presents novel and innovative ideas and provides a forum for the publication and circulation of working papers produced by scholars, leaders, and community members focused on various topics related to Indigenous Peoples’, including Self-Determination, Economic Development, Entrepreneurship, Political Institution Building, Property Rights and Legal Institutions, Natural Resources and Conservation, Social and Economic Outcomes, and Data Creation and Collection.
The mission of the HKS Project on Indigenous Governance and Development is to conduct and promote collaborative research, learning, and teaching that improves the political, social, cultural, and economic wellbeing of all Indigenous Peoples, Nations, and communities. Our efforts support Indigenous Peoples’ sovereignty and the rights to self-determination and self-governance.
Working Papers are provided in draft form for purposes of comment and discussion only. The views expressed — and any policy recommendations made — in Working Papers are the authors’ alone and should not be ascribed to the HKS Project on Indigenous Governance and Development, the Ash Center, Harvard Kennedy School, or Harvard University. Inclusion of a Working Paper in this series does not imply directly or indirectly any affiliation with Harvard University or any other units. The inclusion of a Working Paper in this series does not indicate the Working Paper has been fully peer-reviewed or published in any way.
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Working Papers Hub
WP 26-010: Reimagining Tamang Sovereignty: Indigenous Resurgence, the Politics of Recognition, and Plurinational Futures in Nepal
This paper examines Tamang self-determination in Nepal through the interconnected lenses of the politics of recognition, Indigenous resurgence, internal colonialism, decolonial thought, and epistemic justice. It argues that the Tamang struggle is not...
WP 26-009: New Echoes of Deep Mexico? Indigenous Identity and Its Enduring Imprints
This chapter revisits Guillermo Bonfil Batalla's México Profundo (1987) through the lens of contemporary empirical historical economics. In that work, Bonfil Batalla argued that beneath a Westernized facade of modern Mexico lies a "Deep Mexico": a living...
WP 26-008: Native-Settler Violence and Weak Institutions on the American Frontier
We have built a comprehensive dataset of settler/Indigenous violent encounters covering more than 200 tribes in 21 western states over the nineteenth century. During this period, Native American and settler deaths were concentrated in the Southwest and...
WP 26-007: Who Defines Development? Self-Determination and the Missing Dimension of Development Measurement
This paper argues that communities should have a role not just in implementing development projects, but in deciding what counts as success in the first place. Today, that judgment is usually made elsewhere, by governments, donors, or researchers, using...
