A Systematic Literature Review Study on the Social Inclusion of the Indigenous People

Abstract

Developing economies like India have adopted the Sustainable Development Goals of sustainable cities and communities and reduced inequalities to achieve inclusive development and growth. Globally, the indigenous communities or tribals seek reparation for conflicts between proclaiming indigenous rights and claiming natural resources. There is little literature on challenges to the social inclusion of the tribes or the indigenous people. This literature review study aimed to (a) introduce the problem of social exclusion of indigenous people, (b) discuss the most researched dimensions of social inclusion of the tribal or indigenous people using relevant theoretical frameworks and (c) to develop conceptual frameworks on the theory of social inclusion of the indigenous people. PRISMA protocol was followed, and various tools were used for bibliographic management and text mining with 58 articles selected from 944 journals indexed in Web of Sciences. The analysis of the literature underscores four pivotal themes namely (1) the cultural identity of indigenous people, (2) the debate on the legitimacy of the rights of indigenous people rights and sustainable development, (3) factors impacting the social inclusion of the indigenous people and (4) coping strategies for the social inclusion of the indigenous people. The literature review highlights urgent needs to socially include indigenous and tribal people. Various factors impact the financial inclusion of the poor, including cognitive and affective factors. It is essential to leverage the skills and expertise of the local indigenous people for forest management and land management to ensure the social inclusion of the poor and tribes.

Citation

Malhotra, N. (2024), "A Systematic Literature Review Study on the Social Inclusion of the Indigenous People", Sustainable Pathways, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 41-69. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83549-490-520241005