Indigenous Resistance to Neoliberalism in the Global South: A Foucauldian Analysis

This paper critically explores indigenous resistance to neoliberalism in the Global South, using Michel Foucault’s theories of power, resistance and discourse as a framework. It examines how indigenous movements in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa challenge neoliberal policies, particularly through contesting extractivist development paradigms imposed by states and multinational corporations. Employing a Foucauldian discourse-analytic methodology, it examines the rationalities of neoliberal governance, such as market efficiency, developmentality and individual responsibility, and how these are resisted and re-imagined through indigenous epistemologies and practices. The paper emphasises both the discursive and material dimensions of resistance, demonstrating how indigenous struggles reshape understandings of power relations and highlight the limits and contradictions inherent in neoliberal governance. In doing so, it contributes to existing scholarships by bridging Foucauldian and decolonial approaches, offering a novel theoretical synthesis that extends understandings of power, agency and resistance.