THE GLOBALISATION IN THE 'FOURTH WORLD' AND NEW INDIGENOUS MOVEMENTS (Globalizacja w 'czwartym swiecie' a nowe ruchy tubylcze)

Processes of globalisation have their centres and peripheries but they spread systematically without avoiding any area. They also reach the areas of the 'fourth world', i.e. regions inhabited by indigenous peoples pushed by colonial conditions and post-colonial politics to the margin of economic, social and civil life. In these areas, at least from the final decades of the 20th c., a new community of indigenous peoples has been formed, mainly thanks to the organisations that are established there, their leaders and the new ideas reaching them, external aid and solidarity support. The aspirations of indigenous peoples include the defence of their own territory and the natural environment, attempts at empowerment and legal recognition of their rights, parity in public life, and autonomy, at least cultural autonomy. Attempts at preserving their ethnic identity and cultural heritage and support for the ethnodevelopment of indigenous groups are important aspects of their efforts. The establishment of a network of indigenous peoples and organisations and the formation of the ideology of the 'fourth world' is an emancipatory achievement of post-colonial indigenous groups, achieved to a large extent thanks to globalisation. However, globalisation poses a serious threat to the indigenous peoples, mainly because of the economic expansion targeted at the areas which they inhabit, strong impact of the global popular culture, labour related migration, and eco- and ethnotourism. Indigenous peoples oppose these conditions, often stressing their anti-/alterglobal attitude. Their commitment to defend their own interests shows that these communities are better and better prepared to the new living conditions in the world of global dependences, relations and flows.