Abstract

How does interculturalism work in practice with legal pluralism in Latin America to create a new category? Legal pluralism, interlegality, and interculturalism are pivotal concepts in Latin America, shaping the way in which legal systems work together. However, the doctrine and literature are too positive regarding the role of interculturalism in the justice systems of nation-states. Applying a critical and inductive research methodology, this paper analyses the cases of Venezuela and Ecuador to argue that, in Latin America, more than having a stage of interlegality, which is the exception, there exists an in-between form of legal pluralism called intercultural/legalities. In this form, indigenous and nation-state systems work in parallel, respecting indigenous justice, but with no adaptation between them. The principle of interculturalism moderates Eurocentric law and attempts to transform the understanding of its institutions to accommodate indigenous philosophies. In intercultural/legalities, the use of interculturalism as an agent of paradigm change is primarily vested in judges and justices, more than any other actor.