Carlos Bolomey Córdova | Newcastle University (original) (raw)
Thesis Chapters by Carlos Bolomey Córdova
Doctoral Thesis Newcastle University, 2024
This thesis sheds light on agrarian capitalism by looking at the implications over social relatio... more This thesis sheds light on agrarian capitalism by looking at the implications over social relations when new cash crops are cultivated in a new frontier. An
ethnographic work was conducted over 15 months in La Araucania Region,
Southcentral Chile, where the Mapuche indigenous people have part of their ancient land. While other rural inhabitants who are not indigenous also play a role in creating a complex rural social fabric, together a definite agrarian structure arises from the interplay between these rural inhabitants and the crops grown. The research employed ethnographic methods such as shadowing, participant observation, indepth interviews, and secondary sources to reveal the perceptions farmers and peasants have toward certain crops. This research offers a nuanced sociological understanding of the processes of agrarian change underlying the adoption of cash crops. It is an effort to re-install the link between rurality and food production. In turn, the present ethnography overcomes commodity fetishism by highlighting the
human agency involved in food production.
The ethnography draws its arguments on the comparison of grains and fruits. While the former lies at the heart of tradition, the latter has been portrayed as one of the prime examples of agrarian capitalism due to its high dependence on wage labour. By teasing out these crops, it is possible to obtain a narrative that underlines the material, the subjective, and the cultural meaning growers endowed to either cereals or fruits in terms of security, whether in the form of food security or as a sense of security in a somewhat troubled context. It follows that the elements hindering the establishment of orchards in a new agrarian frontier are rooted in family farm dynamics
Accordingly, the second main component of this research is the analysis of agrarian class relations. To this end, it pays attention to the variety of family farms coexisting within the same territory. It concludes that through the everyday interactions held by these family farms, one can improve the comprehension of family farming by identifying the common grounds and what makes each family farm unique from their neighbours
El concepto de Interculturalidad y su relación con la educación, ha sido pensado por intelectuale... more El concepto de Interculturalidad y su relación con la educación, ha sido pensado por intelectuales y utilizado por los Estados y comunidades marginalizadas como los indígenas e inmigrantes, para generar modelos educativos interculturales. Así este estudio se enfoca en los discursos en torno a la educación intercultural, y en particular, a los que se articulan en torno a la figura del educador tradicional mapuche de las escuelas municipales de la comuna de Galvarino de la IX Región de Chile. Lo anterior surge producto de una demanda de investigación y evaluación de resultados solicitada por la institución PUC-ICIIS que en su línea de políticas públicas realizó un diplomado para educadores tradicionales de revitalización de la lengua y cultura mapuche, el cual fue gestionado de manera conjunta con el consejo territorial de Galvarino (CTG). De esta forma, la investigación se articuló mediante una metodología cualitativa de observaciones y entrevistas que evaluaron las impresiones positivas y negativas por parte de los educadores tradicionales hacia el diplomado. Además develó en la forma en que se legitima y posiciona el educador tradicional en un contexto de oficialización de la lengua vernácula. Observando que dichos procesos son mediados por instituciones como el consejo territorial, el departamento de educación municipal y entidades expertas. Así el educador tradicional, se concibe como un ente legítimo según tres niveles de análisis (Escolar, Comunal y Estatal) en donde sus competencias lingüisticas y pedagógicas le entregan validez o cuestionan su labor. También se señalan a modo de propuestas ciertos elementos que permiten potenciar la figura del educador tradicional a partir de sus propios conocimientos
La aplicación del Programa Intercultural Bilingüe en nuestro país, sugiere la importancia de invo... more La aplicación del Programa Intercultural Bilingüe en nuestro país, sugiere la importancia de involucrar a la comunidad en los procesos de aprendizaje de los niños, de manera que la relación entre hogar y escuela, constituye un eje importante de esta investigación, realizada en un liceo intercultural rural mapuche entre las comunas de Carahue y Nueva Imperial bajo la modalidad de una etnografía escolar mediante la cual observamos las percepciones y discursos sobre prácticas educativas de ambos actores (comunidad y liceo), formas y calidad de las comunicaciones entre ambos actores, nodos críticos y fortalezas de la relación entre hogar y liceo, además se exploró la influencia de las formas y contenidos emanados del Ministerio de Educación en la institución educativa. Concluyendo a partir de los datos levantados, que nuestro caso de estudio funciona como una escuela comunitaria muy cerrada, en el sentido de que emerge, se constituye y organiza por la comunidad mapuche, decantando en relaciones estrechas y muy personales regidas por la confianza, redundado en la existencia de una comunicación entre liceo y comunidad de hogares fluida aunque asimétrica. De otra parte, se concluye la existencia entre hogar y liceo
relaciones cruzadas en cuanto percepciones educativas y discursos sobre las prácticas de ambos actores, generando por ejemplo, que la educación formal sea más valorada en el hogar que en el liceo, no obstante sea en la práctica del liceo donde esta se refuerza y no en la práctica de los hogares. Además, y a partir de los datos, observamos la presencia de dos nodos crítico en la relación hogar liceo; la baja preparación docente en el manejo y uso del idioma vernáculo y la adscripción a la espiritualidad evangélica de algunos hogares que
consideran las prácticas mapuche como paganas, siendo por el contrario, dos nodos de fortaleza, el valor transversal del respeto como parte importante a educar para ambos actores, y la especialización del técnico en enfermería, elcual contiene conocimientos mapuches y constituye una forma efectiva demovilidad social para los hogares. Por último, las formas y contenidos emanados del Ministerio de Educación son observados por el liceo comodescontextualizados de la realidad mapuche en tanto a cómo éstos conciben el tiempo, el espacio y la relación entre los hombres.
Drafts by Carlos Bolomey Córdova
Papers by Carlos Bolomey Córdova
Rural Sociology, Dec 17, 2023
This article seeks to challenge essentialist comprehensions of rural Indigenous communities throu... more This article seeks to challenge essentialist comprehensions of rural Indigenous communities through examining one particular Mapuche community who were the recipients of a land subsidy. Mapuche people are the largest Indigenous group in Chile. Since the 1990s, the Chilean government, responding to calls for social justice, has purchased land and relocated Mapuche people, mostly landless or almost landless smallholder Indigenous peasants, to areas where they could own land. This study draws on qualitative data gathered from one Mapuche community throughout 2020 and early 2021. It examines the process by which these Mapuche Indigenous people became landowners, and the meanings of this transition for the rural community and households in terms of class differentiation. To this end, the article reflects on key aspects of rural everyday life, such as access to land and machinery. Firstly, it pays attention to the story behind the creation of a new Indigenous community, through analyzing the engagement of its members with the institutional path that was created by the Chilean State as a means of addressing Indigenous land struggles. This, in turn, shows how Indigenous communities can also be made while highlighting the disruptions triggered within such communities when engaging with these public schemes. Secondly, the article reflects on how the members of this new Indigenous community regard certain means of production, especially a communal tractor that was acquired through a Chilean State subsidy. In this respect, it shows how agrarian class formation is associated with these rural households' perceptions regarding their co-owned tractor. Through investigating shifting notions of rural Indigenous communities, it is concluded that dynamics of agrarian class differentiation led to community development, as well as demarking the contours of individual rural households within each community. ☆ I am grateful to the Mapuche Indigenous people who spared time for me during my fieldwork in Perquenco and shared their stories and memories. Also, to those three anonymous reviewers for their comments on a preliminary version of the article. I would also like to thank Stuart Bowman for the help provided in editing the manuscript. This research was possible thanks to the financial support of Becas Chile, ANID. In addition,
Rural Sociology, 2023
This article seeks to challenge essentialist comprehensions of rural Indigenous communities throu... more This article seeks to challenge essentialist comprehensions of rural Indigenous communities through examining one particular Mapuche community who were the recipients of a land subsidy. Mapuche people are the largest Indigenous group in Chile. Since the 1990s, the Chilean government, responding to calls for social justice, has purchased land and relocated Mapuche people, mostly landless or almost landless smallholder Indigenous peasants, to areas where they could own land. This study draws on qualitative data gathered from one Mapuche community throughout 2020 and early 2021. It examines the process by which these Mapuche Indigenous people became landowners, and the meanings of this transition for the rural community and households in terms of class differentiation. To this end, the article reflects on key aspects of rural everyday life, such as access to land and machinery. Firstly, it pays attention to the story behind the creation of a new Indigenous community, through analyzing the engagement of its members with the institutional path that was created by the Chilean State as a means of addressing Indigenous land struggles. This, in turn, shows how Indigenous communities can also be made while highlighting the disruptions triggered within such communities when engaging with these public schemes. Secondly, the article reflects on how the members of this new Indigenous community regard certain means of production, especially a communal tractor that was acquired through a Chilean State subsidy. In this respect, it shows how agrarian class formation is associated with these rural households' perceptions regarding their co-owned tractor. Through investigating shifting notions of rural Indigenous communities, it is concluded that dynamics of agrarian class differentiation led to community development, as well as demarking the contours of individual rural households within each community.
British Journal of Sociology of Education, Mar 14, 2019
This article examines from a historical and contemporary perspective the political, educational a... more This article examines from a historical and contemporary perspective the political, educational and linguistic demands of Mapuche intellectuals and organisations and how they have been addressed by public policy in Chile. In particular, the article focuses on the Araucanía Region, part of the ancestral territory of the Mapuche people. We adopt a documentary and ethnographic approach to analyse the context, the development and the transformation of Mapuche demands in a political environment influenced and exacerbated by certain actions by both the state and indigenous organisations. The analysis focuses on education and the tensions generated under Chile's neoliberal economic model, affecting the decisions and everyday lives of families and children, especially indigenous families, in the Araucanía Region.
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 2019
Intercultural Bilingual Education has been public policy in Chile for more than 20 years. One of ... more Intercultural Bilingual Education has been public policy in Chile for more than 20 years. One of its key components is the emergence of the Traditional Educator, an indigenous person with the linguistic and cultural competencies necessary for teaching an indigenous language in a school context. Hence, this research is directed towards examining the perceptions of Traditional Educators regarding the teaching of indigenous languages. The contents of relevant documents and interviews with Traditional Educators from three groups of indigenous peoples (Mapuche, Aymara and Lican Antay) who participated in the study were analyzed using a qualitative methodology. Using the Critical Language Policies approach, the results were organized into three categories: (a) perceptions of Traditional Educators regarding the Intercultural Bilingual Education Program, (b) the relationship of Traditional Educators with other participants in the school system, and (c) teaching strategies declared by Traditional Educators for teaching in the Indigenous Language Class (Sector Lengua Indígena). We concluded that the work of Traditional Educators within schools is isolated and lacks the support of local communities and the Intercultural Bilingual Education Program.
Critique of Anthropology, 2019
This article examines forms of state dependence in a Mapuche indigenous territory on the coast of... more This article examines forms of state dependence in a Mapuche indigenous territory on the coast of the Araucanía Region, Chile. Public and private programmes have been implemented in this area to assist the development of a territory which is considered ‘poor’ and contains a large percentage of Mapuche people. We analyse three moments of state action from the 1990s down to the present, identifying forms of state dependence which persist and evolve; relations with local counterpart organisations and the role of state employees become crucial in these new forms of dependence. On this basis, we conclude that today there is less expressed demand for autonomy and self-determination processes among indigenous communities and their leaders in the studied territory, replaced by a demand for more public programmes and resources in pursuit of an ‘improvement’ in their quality of life. This is occurring despite the current context in Chile of greater political visibility of the indigenous probl...
Sinéctica, 2018
En este artículo mostramos tres casos de escuelas rurales del sur de Chile conducidas por profeso... more En este artículo mostramos tres casos de escuelas rurales del sur de Chile conducidas por profesores mapuche, quienes, insatisfechos con la interculturalidad de Estado, implementan proyectos educativos orientados a entregar una educación que refleje la cultura de los sectores donde se ubican. Analizamos los discursos y las prácticas desarrolladas en estas escuelas como la expresión de un modelo de educación mapuche que se abre espacio dentro de un sistema marcado por el neoliberalismo tanto en el plano de las políticas educacionales como de las interculturales o multiculturales. Estas escuelas, que fueron estudiadas desde enfoques etnográficos y cualitativos, adoptan una pluralidad de herramientas y mecanismos dispuestos por la normativa vigente para penetrar de manera transversal la vida escolar con los valores y conocimientos mapuche. Concluimos que, por el momento, por condiciones legales, políticas y sociales, presentarse como una opción más dentro del sistema educativo de libre...
El concepto de Interculturalidad y su relación con la educación, ha sido pensado por intelectuale... more El concepto de Interculturalidad y su relación con la educación, ha sido pensado por intelectuales y utilizado por los Estados y comunidades marginalizadas como los indígenas e inmigrantes, para generar modelos educativos interculturales. Así este estudio se enfoca en los discursos en torno a la educación intercultural, y en particular, a los que se articulan en torno a la figura del educador tradicional mapuche de las escuelas municipales de la comuna de Galvarino de la IX Región de Chile. Lo anterior surge producto de una demanda de investigación y evaluación de resultados solicitada por la institución PUC-ICIIS que en su línea de políticas públicas realizó un diplomado para educadores tradicionales de revitalización de la lengua y cultura mapuche, el cual fue gestionado de manera conjunta con el consejo territorial de Galvarino (CTG). De esta forma, la investigación se articuló mediante una metodología cualitativa de observaciones y entrevistas que evaluaron las impresiones positivas y negativas por parte de los educadores tradicionales hacia el diplomado. Además develó en la forma en que se legitima y posiciona el educador tradicional en un contexto de oficialización de la lengua vernácula. Observando que dichos procesos son mediados por instituciones como el consejo territorial, el departamento de educación municipal y entidades expertas. Así el educador tradicional, se concibe como un ente legítimo según tres niveles de análisis (Escolar, Comunal y Estatal) en donde sus competencias lingüisticas y pedagógicas le entregan validez o cuestionan su labor. También se señalan a modo de propuestas ciertos elementos que permiten potenciar la figura del educador tradicional a partir de sus propios conocimientos
British Journal of Sociology of Education
This article examines from a historical and contemporary perspective the political, educational a... more This article examines from a historical and contemporary perspective the political, educational and linguistic demands of Mapuche intellectuals and organisations and how they have been addressed by public policy in Chile. In particular, the article focuses on the Araucanía Region, part of the ancestral territory of the Mapuche people. We adopt a documentary and ethnographic approach to analyse the context, the development and the transformation of Mapuche demands in a political environment influenced and exacerbated by certain actions by both the state and indigenous organisations. The analysis focuses on education and the tensions generated under Chile’s neoliberal economic model, affecting the decisions and everyday lives of families and children, especially indigenous families, in the Araucanía Region.
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 2019
Intercultural Bilingual Education has been public policy in Chile for more than 20 years. One of ... more Intercultural Bilingual Education has been public policy in Chile for more
than 20 years. One of its key components is the emergence of the
Traditional Educator, an indigenous person with the linguistic and
cultural competencies necessary for teaching an indigenous language in
a school context. Hence, this research is directed towards examining the
perceptions of Traditional Educators regarding the teaching of
indigenous languages. The contents of relevant documents and
interviews with Traditional Educators from three groups of indigenous
peoples (Mapuche, Aymara and Lican Antay) who participated in the
study were analyzed using a qualitative methodology. Using the Critical
Language Policies approach, the results were organized into three
categories: (a) perceptions of Traditional Educators regarding the
Intercultural Bilingual Education Program, (b) the relationship of
Traditional Educators with other participants in the school system, and
(c) teaching strategies declared by Traditional Educators for teaching in
the Indigenous Language Class (Sector Lengua Indígena). We concluded
that the work of Traditional Educators within schools is isolated and
lacks the support of local communities and the Intercultural Bilingual
Education Program.
Critique of Anthropology, 2019
This article examines forms of state dependence in a Mapuche indigenous territory on the coast of... more This article examines forms of state dependence in a Mapuche indigenous territory on the coast of the Araucan ıa Region, Chile. Public and private programmes have been implemented in this area to assist the development of a territory which is considered 'poor' and contains a large percentage of Mapuche people. We analyse three moments of state action from the 1990s down to the present, identifying forms of state dependence which persist and evolve; relations with local counterpart organisations and the role of state employees become crucial in these new forms of dependence. On this basis, we conclude that today there is less expressed demand for autonomy and self-determination processes among indigenous communities and their leaders in the studied territory, replaced by a demand for more public programmes and resources in pursuit of an 'improvement' in their quality of life. This is occurring despite the current context in Chile of greater political visibility of the indigenous problem and indigenous claims, leading in turn to more repressive police action.
British Journal of Sociology of Education, 2019
This article examines from a historical and contemporary perspective the political, educational a... more This article examines from a historical and contemporary perspective the political, educational and linguistic demands of Mapuche intellectuals and organisations and how they have been addressed by public policy in Chile. In particular, the article focuses on the Araucanía Region, part of the ancestral territory of the Mapuche people. We adopt a documentary and ethnographic approach to analyse the context, the development and the transformation of Mapuche demands in a political environment influenced and exacerbated by certain actions by both the state and indigenous organisations. The analysis focuses on education and the tensions generated under Chile’s neoliberal economic model, affecting the decisions and everyday lives of families and children, especially indigenous families, in the Araucanía Region.
principales líneas de investigación son educación intercultural, sociología rural y desarrollo lo... more principales líneas de investigación son educación intercultural, sociología rural y desarrollo local.
Doctoral Thesis Newcastle University, 2024
This thesis sheds light on agrarian capitalism by looking at the implications over social relatio... more This thesis sheds light on agrarian capitalism by looking at the implications over social relations when new cash crops are cultivated in a new frontier. An
ethnographic work was conducted over 15 months in La Araucania Region,
Southcentral Chile, where the Mapuche indigenous people have part of their ancient land. While other rural inhabitants who are not indigenous also play a role in creating a complex rural social fabric, together a definite agrarian structure arises from the interplay between these rural inhabitants and the crops grown. The research employed ethnographic methods such as shadowing, participant observation, indepth interviews, and secondary sources to reveal the perceptions farmers and peasants have toward certain crops. This research offers a nuanced sociological understanding of the processes of agrarian change underlying the adoption of cash crops. It is an effort to re-install the link between rurality and food production. In turn, the present ethnography overcomes commodity fetishism by highlighting the
human agency involved in food production.
The ethnography draws its arguments on the comparison of grains and fruits. While the former lies at the heart of tradition, the latter has been portrayed as one of the prime examples of agrarian capitalism due to its high dependence on wage labour. By teasing out these crops, it is possible to obtain a narrative that underlines the material, the subjective, and the cultural meaning growers endowed to either cereals or fruits in terms of security, whether in the form of food security or as a sense of security in a somewhat troubled context. It follows that the elements hindering the establishment of orchards in a new agrarian frontier are rooted in family farm dynamics
Accordingly, the second main component of this research is the analysis of agrarian class relations. To this end, it pays attention to the variety of family farms coexisting within the same territory. It concludes that through the everyday interactions held by these family farms, one can improve the comprehension of family farming by identifying the common grounds and what makes each family farm unique from their neighbours
El concepto de Interculturalidad y su relación con la educación, ha sido pensado por intelectuale... more El concepto de Interculturalidad y su relación con la educación, ha sido pensado por intelectuales y utilizado por los Estados y comunidades marginalizadas como los indígenas e inmigrantes, para generar modelos educativos interculturales. Así este estudio se enfoca en los discursos en torno a la educación intercultural, y en particular, a los que se articulan en torno a la figura del educador tradicional mapuche de las escuelas municipales de la comuna de Galvarino de la IX Región de Chile. Lo anterior surge producto de una demanda de investigación y evaluación de resultados solicitada por la institución PUC-ICIIS que en su línea de políticas públicas realizó un diplomado para educadores tradicionales de revitalización de la lengua y cultura mapuche, el cual fue gestionado de manera conjunta con el consejo territorial de Galvarino (CTG). De esta forma, la investigación se articuló mediante una metodología cualitativa de observaciones y entrevistas que evaluaron las impresiones positivas y negativas por parte de los educadores tradicionales hacia el diplomado. Además develó en la forma en que se legitima y posiciona el educador tradicional en un contexto de oficialización de la lengua vernácula. Observando que dichos procesos son mediados por instituciones como el consejo territorial, el departamento de educación municipal y entidades expertas. Así el educador tradicional, se concibe como un ente legítimo según tres niveles de análisis (Escolar, Comunal y Estatal) en donde sus competencias lingüisticas y pedagógicas le entregan validez o cuestionan su labor. También se señalan a modo de propuestas ciertos elementos que permiten potenciar la figura del educador tradicional a partir de sus propios conocimientos
La aplicación del Programa Intercultural Bilingüe en nuestro país, sugiere la importancia de invo... more La aplicación del Programa Intercultural Bilingüe en nuestro país, sugiere la importancia de involucrar a la comunidad en los procesos de aprendizaje de los niños, de manera que la relación entre hogar y escuela, constituye un eje importante de esta investigación, realizada en un liceo intercultural rural mapuche entre las comunas de Carahue y Nueva Imperial bajo la modalidad de una etnografía escolar mediante la cual observamos las percepciones y discursos sobre prácticas educativas de ambos actores (comunidad y liceo), formas y calidad de las comunicaciones entre ambos actores, nodos críticos y fortalezas de la relación entre hogar y liceo, además se exploró la influencia de las formas y contenidos emanados del Ministerio de Educación en la institución educativa. Concluyendo a partir de los datos levantados, que nuestro caso de estudio funciona como una escuela comunitaria muy cerrada, en el sentido de que emerge, se constituye y organiza por la comunidad mapuche, decantando en relaciones estrechas y muy personales regidas por la confianza, redundado en la existencia de una comunicación entre liceo y comunidad de hogares fluida aunque asimétrica. De otra parte, se concluye la existencia entre hogar y liceo
relaciones cruzadas en cuanto percepciones educativas y discursos sobre las prácticas de ambos actores, generando por ejemplo, que la educación formal sea más valorada en el hogar que en el liceo, no obstante sea en la práctica del liceo donde esta se refuerza y no en la práctica de los hogares. Además, y a partir de los datos, observamos la presencia de dos nodos crítico en la relación hogar liceo; la baja preparación docente en el manejo y uso del idioma vernáculo y la adscripción a la espiritualidad evangélica de algunos hogares que
consideran las prácticas mapuche como paganas, siendo por el contrario, dos nodos de fortaleza, el valor transversal del respeto como parte importante a educar para ambos actores, y la especialización del técnico en enfermería, elcual contiene conocimientos mapuches y constituye una forma efectiva demovilidad social para los hogares. Por último, las formas y contenidos emanados del Ministerio de Educación son observados por el liceo comodescontextualizados de la realidad mapuche en tanto a cómo éstos conciben el tiempo, el espacio y la relación entre los hombres.
Rural Sociology, Dec 17, 2023
This article seeks to challenge essentialist comprehensions of rural Indigenous communities throu... more This article seeks to challenge essentialist comprehensions of rural Indigenous communities through examining one particular Mapuche community who were the recipients of a land subsidy. Mapuche people are the largest Indigenous group in Chile. Since the 1990s, the Chilean government, responding to calls for social justice, has purchased land and relocated Mapuche people, mostly landless or almost landless smallholder Indigenous peasants, to areas where they could own land. This study draws on qualitative data gathered from one Mapuche community throughout 2020 and early 2021. It examines the process by which these Mapuche Indigenous people became landowners, and the meanings of this transition for the rural community and households in terms of class differentiation. To this end, the article reflects on key aspects of rural everyday life, such as access to land and machinery. Firstly, it pays attention to the story behind the creation of a new Indigenous community, through analyzing the engagement of its members with the institutional path that was created by the Chilean State as a means of addressing Indigenous land struggles. This, in turn, shows how Indigenous communities can also be made while highlighting the disruptions triggered within such communities when engaging with these public schemes. Secondly, the article reflects on how the members of this new Indigenous community regard certain means of production, especially a communal tractor that was acquired through a Chilean State subsidy. In this respect, it shows how agrarian class formation is associated with these rural households' perceptions regarding their co-owned tractor. Through investigating shifting notions of rural Indigenous communities, it is concluded that dynamics of agrarian class differentiation led to community development, as well as demarking the contours of individual rural households within each community. ☆ I am grateful to the Mapuche Indigenous people who spared time for me during my fieldwork in Perquenco and shared their stories and memories. Also, to those three anonymous reviewers for their comments on a preliminary version of the article. I would also like to thank Stuart Bowman for the help provided in editing the manuscript. This research was possible thanks to the financial support of Becas Chile, ANID. In addition,
Rural Sociology, 2023
This article seeks to challenge essentialist comprehensions of rural Indigenous communities throu... more This article seeks to challenge essentialist comprehensions of rural Indigenous communities through examining one particular Mapuche community who were the recipients of a land subsidy. Mapuche people are the largest Indigenous group in Chile. Since the 1990s, the Chilean government, responding to calls for social justice, has purchased land and relocated Mapuche people, mostly landless or almost landless smallholder Indigenous peasants, to areas where they could own land. This study draws on qualitative data gathered from one Mapuche community throughout 2020 and early 2021. It examines the process by which these Mapuche Indigenous people became landowners, and the meanings of this transition for the rural community and households in terms of class differentiation. To this end, the article reflects on key aspects of rural everyday life, such as access to land and machinery. Firstly, it pays attention to the story behind the creation of a new Indigenous community, through analyzing the engagement of its members with the institutional path that was created by the Chilean State as a means of addressing Indigenous land struggles. This, in turn, shows how Indigenous communities can also be made while highlighting the disruptions triggered within such communities when engaging with these public schemes. Secondly, the article reflects on how the members of this new Indigenous community regard certain means of production, especially a communal tractor that was acquired through a Chilean State subsidy. In this respect, it shows how agrarian class formation is associated with these rural households' perceptions regarding their co-owned tractor. Through investigating shifting notions of rural Indigenous communities, it is concluded that dynamics of agrarian class differentiation led to community development, as well as demarking the contours of individual rural households within each community.
British Journal of Sociology of Education, Mar 14, 2019
This article examines from a historical and contemporary perspective the political, educational a... more This article examines from a historical and contemporary perspective the political, educational and linguistic demands of Mapuche intellectuals and organisations and how they have been addressed by public policy in Chile. In particular, the article focuses on the Araucanía Region, part of the ancestral territory of the Mapuche people. We adopt a documentary and ethnographic approach to analyse the context, the development and the transformation of Mapuche demands in a political environment influenced and exacerbated by certain actions by both the state and indigenous organisations. The analysis focuses on education and the tensions generated under Chile's neoliberal economic model, affecting the decisions and everyday lives of families and children, especially indigenous families, in the Araucanía Region.
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 2019
Intercultural Bilingual Education has been public policy in Chile for more than 20 years. One of ... more Intercultural Bilingual Education has been public policy in Chile for more than 20 years. One of its key components is the emergence of the Traditional Educator, an indigenous person with the linguistic and cultural competencies necessary for teaching an indigenous language in a school context. Hence, this research is directed towards examining the perceptions of Traditional Educators regarding the teaching of indigenous languages. The contents of relevant documents and interviews with Traditional Educators from three groups of indigenous peoples (Mapuche, Aymara and Lican Antay) who participated in the study were analyzed using a qualitative methodology. Using the Critical Language Policies approach, the results were organized into three categories: (a) perceptions of Traditional Educators regarding the Intercultural Bilingual Education Program, (b) the relationship of Traditional Educators with other participants in the school system, and (c) teaching strategies declared by Traditional Educators for teaching in the Indigenous Language Class (Sector Lengua Indígena). We concluded that the work of Traditional Educators within schools is isolated and lacks the support of local communities and the Intercultural Bilingual Education Program.
Critique of Anthropology, 2019
This article examines forms of state dependence in a Mapuche indigenous territory on the coast of... more This article examines forms of state dependence in a Mapuche indigenous territory on the coast of the Araucanía Region, Chile. Public and private programmes have been implemented in this area to assist the development of a territory which is considered ‘poor’ and contains a large percentage of Mapuche people. We analyse three moments of state action from the 1990s down to the present, identifying forms of state dependence which persist and evolve; relations with local counterpart organisations and the role of state employees become crucial in these new forms of dependence. On this basis, we conclude that today there is less expressed demand for autonomy and self-determination processes among indigenous communities and their leaders in the studied territory, replaced by a demand for more public programmes and resources in pursuit of an ‘improvement’ in their quality of life. This is occurring despite the current context in Chile of greater political visibility of the indigenous probl...
Sinéctica, 2018
En este artículo mostramos tres casos de escuelas rurales del sur de Chile conducidas por profeso... more En este artículo mostramos tres casos de escuelas rurales del sur de Chile conducidas por profesores mapuche, quienes, insatisfechos con la interculturalidad de Estado, implementan proyectos educativos orientados a entregar una educación que refleje la cultura de los sectores donde se ubican. Analizamos los discursos y las prácticas desarrolladas en estas escuelas como la expresión de un modelo de educación mapuche que se abre espacio dentro de un sistema marcado por el neoliberalismo tanto en el plano de las políticas educacionales como de las interculturales o multiculturales. Estas escuelas, que fueron estudiadas desde enfoques etnográficos y cualitativos, adoptan una pluralidad de herramientas y mecanismos dispuestos por la normativa vigente para penetrar de manera transversal la vida escolar con los valores y conocimientos mapuche. Concluimos que, por el momento, por condiciones legales, políticas y sociales, presentarse como una opción más dentro del sistema educativo de libre...
El concepto de Interculturalidad y su relación con la educación, ha sido pensado por intelectuale... more El concepto de Interculturalidad y su relación con la educación, ha sido pensado por intelectuales y utilizado por los Estados y comunidades marginalizadas como los indígenas e inmigrantes, para generar modelos educativos interculturales. Así este estudio se enfoca en los discursos en torno a la educación intercultural, y en particular, a los que se articulan en torno a la figura del educador tradicional mapuche de las escuelas municipales de la comuna de Galvarino de la IX Región de Chile. Lo anterior surge producto de una demanda de investigación y evaluación de resultados solicitada por la institución PUC-ICIIS que en su línea de políticas públicas realizó un diplomado para educadores tradicionales de revitalización de la lengua y cultura mapuche, el cual fue gestionado de manera conjunta con el consejo territorial de Galvarino (CTG). De esta forma, la investigación se articuló mediante una metodología cualitativa de observaciones y entrevistas que evaluaron las impresiones positivas y negativas por parte de los educadores tradicionales hacia el diplomado. Además develó en la forma en que se legitima y posiciona el educador tradicional en un contexto de oficialización de la lengua vernácula. Observando que dichos procesos son mediados por instituciones como el consejo territorial, el departamento de educación municipal y entidades expertas. Así el educador tradicional, se concibe como un ente legítimo según tres niveles de análisis (Escolar, Comunal y Estatal) en donde sus competencias lingüisticas y pedagógicas le entregan validez o cuestionan su labor. También se señalan a modo de propuestas ciertos elementos que permiten potenciar la figura del educador tradicional a partir de sus propios conocimientos
British Journal of Sociology of Education
This article examines from a historical and contemporary perspective the political, educational a... more This article examines from a historical and contemporary perspective the political, educational and linguistic demands of Mapuche intellectuals and organisations and how they have been addressed by public policy in Chile. In particular, the article focuses on the Araucanía Region, part of the ancestral territory of the Mapuche people. We adopt a documentary and ethnographic approach to analyse the context, the development and the transformation of Mapuche demands in a political environment influenced and exacerbated by certain actions by both the state and indigenous organisations. The analysis focuses on education and the tensions generated under Chile’s neoliberal economic model, affecting the decisions and everyday lives of families and children, especially indigenous families, in the Araucanía Region.
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 2019
Intercultural Bilingual Education has been public policy in Chile for more than 20 years. One of ... more Intercultural Bilingual Education has been public policy in Chile for more
than 20 years. One of its key components is the emergence of the
Traditional Educator, an indigenous person with the linguistic and
cultural competencies necessary for teaching an indigenous language in
a school context. Hence, this research is directed towards examining the
perceptions of Traditional Educators regarding the teaching of
indigenous languages. The contents of relevant documents and
interviews with Traditional Educators from three groups of indigenous
peoples (Mapuche, Aymara and Lican Antay) who participated in the
study were analyzed using a qualitative methodology. Using the Critical
Language Policies approach, the results were organized into three
categories: (a) perceptions of Traditional Educators regarding the
Intercultural Bilingual Education Program, (b) the relationship of
Traditional Educators with other participants in the school system, and
(c) teaching strategies declared by Traditional Educators for teaching in
the Indigenous Language Class (Sector Lengua Indígena). We concluded
that the work of Traditional Educators within schools is isolated and
lacks the support of local communities and the Intercultural Bilingual
Education Program.
Critique of Anthropology, 2019
This article examines forms of state dependence in a Mapuche indigenous territory on the coast of... more This article examines forms of state dependence in a Mapuche indigenous territory on the coast of the Araucan ıa Region, Chile. Public and private programmes have been implemented in this area to assist the development of a territory which is considered 'poor' and contains a large percentage of Mapuche people. We analyse three moments of state action from the 1990s down to the present, identifying forms of state dependence which persist and evolve; relations with local counterpart organisations and the role of state employees become crucial in these new forms of dependence. On this basis, we conclude that today there is less expressed demand for autonomy and self-determination processes among indigenous communities and their leaders in the studied territory, replaced by a demand for more public programmes and resources in pursuit of an 'improvement' in their quality of life. This is occurring despite the current context in Chile of greater political visibility of the indigenous problem and indigenous claims, leading in turn to more repressive police action.
British Journal of Sociology of Education, 2019
This article examines from a historical and contemporary perspective the political, educational a... more This article examines from a historical and contemporary perspective the political, educational and linguistic demands of Mapuche intellectuals and organisations and how they have been addressed by public policy in Chile. In particular, the article focuses on the Araucanía Region, part of the ancestral territory of the Mapuche people. We adopt a documentary and ethnographic approach to analyse the context, the development and the transformation of Mapuche demands in a political environment influenced and exacerbated by certain actions by both the state and indigenous organisations. The analysis focuses on education and the tensions generated under Chile’s neoliberal economic model, affecting the decisions and everyday lives of families and children, especially indigenous families, in the Araucanía Region.
principales líneas de investigación son educación intercultural, sociología rural y desarrollo lo... more principales líneas de investigación son educación intercultural, sociología rural y desarrollo local.